By: Ashley Sylvara
Instead of spending my free time watching TV and eating junk food at my house, I helped Megan England’s campaign for Kansas State Representative with senior Aggie Rieger by going door-to-door. It was nerve racking at first, realizing that I would have to talk to people face-to-face. Most of the people were undecided voters and republicans; we were trying to persuade them to vote for a democrat.
At first, I was unmotivated and weary to start, and getting the swing of things was difficult and most people were not pleased to see me knocking on their door and requesting an audience with them. But they were generally pleasant and delighted to see such a young person integrating themselves in politics. It was very humid outside and walking around in dress clothes made sweating that much easier. Rieger and I knocked on about 50 doors in three and a half hours.
The experience was unforgettable and inspired me to look into politics around the Kansas City area. Even though I am not eligible to vote, I still enjoy keeping up with politics so that when I am able to vote I will know what the policies were in the past, how they were fixed, and how that fix impacts people like me. Even though politics may seem boring at first, with closer inspection I have found that it can be rewarding in the long run.