“Today was my last day in Iowa campaigning with Mikva Challenge students. Although I had a lot of fun, I am ready to go home.

This morning, I woke up with my roommates one last time, and I said my goodbyes. I will miss all the people I have met, and I hope I get to see them again some day.

After breakfast, I headed off to my last activity at Drake University. I had the opportunity to listen to speakers who discussed their time in politics. I enjoyed asking the speakers questions about their life experiences and how they got involved in politics.

As all of us students prepared to leave, I thought about how everyone was heading back to their homes with  a lot more knowledge than we all arrived with. I had no idea that the political life was so complicated and time consuming. Candidates have to do everything possible to earn people’s votes. One of our speakers at Drake University said that when he was campaigning for himself, he knocked on thousands of doors so he could speak to people face-to-face. I found his story extremely impressive, especially considering the weather here in Iowa is freezing!

It’s almost time for us to drive to the airport. I know I will miss Iowa, especially the people I met during my time here. I have never done anything like this before, but meeting so many new people really helped open me up to the rest of the country. I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn more about politics and to witness presidential campaigns up close. I want to challenge other young people to be actively involved in the political process.

One thing I learned from talking with other Mikva youth was that education and funding for education is such an important issue. I have always known education is an important issue in my community of Coachella, but I learned a lot about how education is also important in communities across the county.

The phone calls, the canvasing, the selfies and the van rides were the best experiences for me. I am now inspired to go out and meet many more new people because I know I can learn more about life. This was an amazing  experience for me,  and I will never forget it.”

— Naomi Carrion

About the author:

Naomi Carrion is a senior at Nova Academy in Coachella, Calif. Naomi joined Coachella Uninc. this fall as an apprentice and she is excited to make a difference in her community through her writing. Naomi also enjoys art and math. She hopes to attend college next year to major in math. View Naomi’s author page here.

“Waking up in Iowa this morning was a surreal experience. I was excited for today because I knew I would find out which candidate’s campaign I would be working with for the rest of the weekend.  During breakfast, they revealed to us our assignments and I was chosen to work on Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign. Senator Cruz was my first choice and I was ecstatic to begin helping his campaign.

After we were assigned our candidates, all the students from Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Coachella came together to brainstorm questions we wanted to ask Iowa representatives at capitol. After speaking with the other youth, I noticed that my questions were very different than the questions from other students. I think coming from the eastern Coachella Valley and a rural community, I have a different perspective than the other students. But I was surprised by how we all agreed that it was our job to help prepare our country for the future no matter which political party we favor.

Today’s highlight was when I arrived at the Iowa State Capitol. I was fascinated by the building and the history. During our stay at the Capitol, I got to listen in on some key speakers in Supreme Court Chamber. The speakers were discussing the issue of education and school funding. Immediately, I thought of how these issues being discussed here in Iowa are also important to us in the eastern Coachella Valley. Even though I am far from my home right now, I am able to see how education is an important issue throughout the nation.

After our trip to the capitol, it was time to meet up with our assigned campaigns. Once I got to Cruz’s campaign office, I was given a crash course that I now call, “Cruz 101.” I was taught about questions people might ask me and soon enough I was making calls to people in Iowa. I enjoyed speaking with people about the future of America and I enjoyed talking to people who were educated about the candidate. It was, by far, the best part of my day. I have to admit I was very nervous at first, but by the end of time at the office, I had called 45 people in Iowa.”

— Karla Martinez

“I only slept for about three hours last night. But I can’t complain because my roommates were great and I enjoyed meeting new people.

After eating breakfast, we traveled to the Iowa State Capitol. While I was there, I got speak with two Iowa representatives, one Democrat and one Republican. I asked them what their views were on taxing the top one percent and the Democrat said she thought it was necessary but the Republican quickly opposed. It was a interesting to hear them debate their viewpoints and I’m glad I got to speak with very opinionated people about their views.

After talking with the representatives, I took a tour of the Capitol building. There was an amazingly large library and a beautiful ceiling. After the tour, we went out for lunch. Do you know how hard it is to travel with 140 kids on more than 30 vans?

Earlier in the day, I found out that I was assigned to work on Senator Marco Rubio’s campaign. At Rubio’s campaign office, I was asked to make phone calls. That was a very interesting experience because not everyone was for Rubio. Some people were nice and some were irritated but I understand that it is just part of the process.

This has been an amazing experience so far, but right now I am exhausted so I’m heading to bed early!”

— Naomi Carrion

About the authors: 

Karla Martinez has been a youth reporter with Coachella Unincorporated for two years, where she has produced numerous articles and reflections on issues like community violence prevention to voter registration. In April 2015, Karla won the Young Lady of the Year Award for Riverside County District 4 for her work with the Land Use Planning Awareness project. View Karla’s author page here.

Naomi Carrion is a senior at Nova Academy in Coachella, Calif. Naomi joined Coachella Uninc. this fall as an apprentice and she is excited to make a difference in her community through her writing. Naomi also enjoys art and math. She hopes to attend college next year to major in math. View Naomi’s author page here.

Day 1

“Today we are traveling to Iowa for the Iowa caucus! I am excited that I will get to experience the caucus the same year I will be voting for the first time. I hope I get the chance to meet the presidential candidates. Wouldn’t it be great to meet the winning candidate so that I could say I was face-to-face with the president?

This morning when I was checking my bag, I was so worried I would forget something. Both my parents dropped me off at the Palm Springs Airport. I know they wanted to see me board my first plane ever.

I’m writing this blog post while we have a layover in Denver, and I can now say that my first time flying was both fun and scary. I did not expect the plane to move so much, or to get butterflies in my stomach, but once we were in the air, I could not stop looking out the window to take in the amazing view. Everything and everyone looked so very small, and once we flew higher all the people disappeared. I was supposed to read a book for my government class while on the plane, but time and the plane flew by fast. I spent almost the entire time gazing out the window.

Now it’s time to rest because tomorrow we will have many activities and we get to meet the other students from across the country.”

— Naomi Carrion

“While I was getting ready to travel to the Iowa caucus, I thought about whether or not I was ready to leave home. Even though the trip is just for three days, my heart raced and I began to miss my room even though I was still home. In my suitcase I packed thick jeans, thick sweaters and thick socks. I packed beanies and scarfs and gloves. Since the current temperature for Des Moines is 34 degrees, I knew I needed to pack for temperatures I’m not used to feeling here in the desert. Before leaving, I also spent time thinking about the experience that awaited me in Iowa. I didn’t know what Iowa looked like because I had never been there before but I was more than ready to make Iowa my home for three days.

The first flight we took was from Palm Springs to Denver. While we were waiting to take off, I thought back to the first time I had flown and I started to become nervous. Thankfully, my teacher sat next to me and oddly enough, it brought me so much relief. For the entire flight, which was only one hour, I watched movies and looked out the window. When we arrived in Denver, my first thought was, “How does so much snow exist in one place?” My second thought was, “How would people from Coachella react to this temperature?”

After our turbulent flight from Denver to Des Mois, our group was tired but we met a few of the students from other groups who were also staying at our hotel. I was more than excited to see who I would be rooming with and who my assigned candidate would be for this weekend. I can’t wait to spend three days learning about advocacy and campaigning. I’m excited to watch the youth from Los Angeles, Washington D.C.,Chicago and Coachella work together to create a better America for tomorrow and for ourselves!”

— Karla Martinez

About the authors: 

Karla Martinez has been a youth reporter with Coachella Unincorporated for two years, where she has produced numerous articles and reflections on issues like community violence prevention to voter registration. In April 2015, Karla won the Young Lady of the Year Award for Riverside County District 4 for her work with the Land Use Planning Awareness project. View Karla’s author page here.

Naomi Carrion is a senior at Nova Academy in Coachella, Calif. Naomi joined Coachella Uninc. this fall as an apprentice and she is excited to make a difference in her community through her writing. Naomi also enjoys art and math. She hopes to attend college next year to major in math. View Naomi’s author page here.

Editor’s Note: With the Iowa caucus just weeks away, recent poll numbers suggest Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is giving his rival Hillary Clinton a run for her money. According to an influential poll out this week, Sanders is running just 3 points behind Clinton in the state. In California’s predominantly Spanish speaking Eastern Coachella Valley, younger Latinos are responding to Sanders’ message, upending the narrative that his appeal does not extend beyond white voters. Coachella Uninc. youth reporter Olivia Rodriguez spoke to young people in the community about why they support the Vermont senator’s bid. (Image via nationofchange.org.)

Most presidential candidates put so much emphasis on boosting the middle class but always seem to ignore those of us who now live or have lived below the poverty level. The current political structure is not benefiting the country’s working class and we are clearly not a priority on Capitol Hill … Unlike the establishment Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders challenges the status quo by keeping his focus on the interests of not only the working class, but of America as a whole.

I also like the way Bernie Sanders has already increased the civic engagement among young people. I once participated in an action to raise awareness around the need for student aid at Capitol Hill. The only politician who came out to support us was Senator Bernie Sanders. As a student, when I hear presidential candidates speak about university issues, that really matters to me.

– Neftali Galarza, 21

I support Sanders because he is the candidate who most closely represents my ideals and values. I knew about Sanders way before he announced his candidacy and I was very glad to know that he had taken that step. One issue that has interested me is that he wants to make college tuition free. This will have a positive impact on me, my siblings and communities around the country.

– Yolanda Moreno, 22

As an environmentalist I support Sanders because he has been against the XL pipeline and the Trans Pacific Partnership since the beginning, which is not something all presidential candidates can say. Lastly, one of the biggest reasons I support Sanders is that he plans on enforcing antitrust laws in the United States in order to support small farmers in the agriculture industry, which is currently dominated by large corporations. This would be help create a better standard of living for families in the Eastern Coachella Valley. He also plans to invest in rebuilding infrastructure so that rural communities can gain access to services like broadband and high speed internet expansion. Bernie seems to have a good understanding of the state that rural communities are in, the services that rural communities lack and he is committed to finding ways of addressing these challenges.

– Araceli Beltran, 23

A lot of youth in the Eastern Coachella Valley see college as not affordable, a shattered dream.  Because of his emphasis on college affordability, Sanders can be that spark for us to regain confidence and make a bigger difference.

– Diana Castellanos, 19

Being a college student, I know the sacrifices students make when they take out loans to pay for college. Often times even after graduating students have trouble paying off debt. Bernie Sanders says that if elected he will reduce interest on student loans and work to make public colleges and universities free. I think these dreams are worth having … if other countries can offer free tuition then America shouldn’t be too far behind. Bernie Sanders has also shown that he stands alongside immigrants and that he will tackle the inequality of wealth here in America. There are no more prevalent issues than these in our Valley.

– Arturo Castellanos Jr., 22

Sanders support for free college tuition holds tremendous promise for communities in the Eastern Coachella Valley. It can offer our youth the choice to attend college, it can offer our current college students the opportunity to dedicate more time to their studies so that one day we can become leaders and keep working toward a better future. If Bernie Sanders were elected it seems that he would offer future possibilities to all. To young people in the Eastern Coachella Valley he’s already having an impact.

– Olivia Rodriguez, 22

About the author: 

Olivia Rodriguez is from Thermal, Calif. She graduated from Desert Mirage High School in 2011 and earned her bachelor’s degree in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley in 2015. Olivia joined Coachella Uninc. this fall and one day she hopes to be a health leader and work alongside other community leaders in the Eastern Coachella Valley to address health inequalities in her community.