"This Election Will Affect Me and My Friends".This is the first in a series of columns by teenagers. If you have a personal story to tell, please send it to us. If we publish it, we'll we'll Contraction of we will. we'll we will or we shall we'll will ~shall send you $100. Submissions must include your name, address, and phone number, should be limited to 400 words, and cannot be returned. Send your column to Voices, The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Upfront, 555 Broadway Broadway, famous thoroughfare in New York City. It extends from Bowling Green near the foot of Manhattan island N to 262d St. in the Bronx. Throughout its length Broadway is chiefly a commercial street. , New York, NY 10012-3999, or e-mail it to nytupfront@scholastic.com. On the third night of the Republican convention last August, I entered the First Union Center in Philadelphia Philadelphia, ancient cities Philadelphia, name of several ancient cities. One was in Lydia, W Asia Minor (now W Turkey). At the foot of Mt. Tmolus and near the location of modern Alaşehir, it was founded in the 2d cent. B.C. , where everyone had gathered to nominate nom·i·nate tr.v. nom·i·nat·ed, nom·i·nat·ing, nom·i·nates 1. To propose by name as a candidate, especially for election. 2. To designate or appoint to an office, responsibility, or honor. George W. Bush and Richard Cheney. When I arrived as a reporter for UPFRONT, I felt like I was in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of an American History class. All the political activity I had seen and read about for years, I could now see in person. I could feel the spirit of the convention through the huge red, white, and blue balloons, the signs supporting Cheney and Bush, the sound of thousands of noisemakers. It felt like I was at a patriotic party
Patriotic Party (Polish Stronnictwo Patriotyczne) was a Polish political movement during the Four-Year Sejm of 1788-1792 that sought reforms aimed at bolstering Poland's independence for the Republicans and America. Then something happened that I had never expected: I suddenly realized that I was interested in all this. Not interested in becoming a politician, but interested in knowing what was going on in the world of politics. This was new to me. When I was in the fourth grade, Bill Clinton and President George Bush were running for President. Knowing almost nothing about politics, and going only on the basis of name recognition, I had wanted Bush to win the election. Looking back on that now, I realize I didn't even know the views of either candidate. Because I don't have the right to vote, I didn't see any reason to care about this election either. But reporting on the convention forced me to educate myself about the issues and the candidates. And coming from a family of Democrats, this bird's-eye view bird's-eye view Noun 1. a view seen from above 2. a general or overall impression of something bird's-eye view n → vista de pájaro of the Republicans gave me a chance to see another side of politics. I started to care. I realized that the decisions made there, and on Election Day, will affect me, my family, and friends starting the day the new President is elected. At the convention, there weren't many young people, and I figured it was because they were as uninformed as I had been. That's a shame. I now feel that it is very important for teens to get involved in politics. As teens, we are the leaders and decision makers of the future. If we can learn today, the decisions we face tomorrow may be a little easier. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion