Why You Should Register To Vote

Why You Should Register To Vote

Politics is weird.  Almost everybody has a different view on politics and there are three types of people. The first type finds it extremely interesting and exciting, the second are indifferent to it, and the third, they hate it with every fiber of their beings. Throughout my childhood I was the weird kid who knew about politics and history before we learned about it in school.

To give you some back story, every morning before school I would watch the news, Sunday night background noise was filled with 60 Minutes and I had a broader idea compared to most 8 year olds of what was going on during the 2008 election. I knew Barack Obama was a supporter of healthcare and if he won he would be the first African-American president and for some estranged reason, I came to my own conclusion that I wanted him to win the 2008 election.

The next few years I believed the country was at ease with his presidency. President Obama took us out of the recession, announced the death of Osama Bin Laden and cried with the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims. To me, our country was in a stable place especially with Obama Care being passed. For the first time ever, if your parents had insurance, you had insurance until you were 26.

As the 2016 election came, I was struck by how much I did not know. People I was friends within school wore hats saying “Make America Great Again” and I had no idea how they could say that? Until the 2016 election, I had no idea the KKK still existed. To me, America can only get greater by progressing not taking a step back into the 1950’s!

The political climate changing, my personal experiences and a broader understanding of politics led me to want to want to do more. That’s where my internship at Chuck Schumer’s office came to be. Chuck Schumer, for those of you who do not know, is the senate minority leader which means he is the leader of the Democratic senators down in Washington D.C.

Before I interned for him, I knew he fought with Trump about big picture things but I did not realize how much he does for our own state. He has impacted New York by fighting for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, urging to push the 9/11 Bill ensuring that first responders from 9/11 continue to get aid in medical expenses among other issues they may have because of the event. He encouraged Senator John McCain to vote no in revoking Obama Care which may be big picture stuff but it impacts all of us.

Did you know before Obama Care was put into place that if you did not take college courses after high school you could be dropped from your parents health insurance plan? When Senator Schumer votes in favor of bills like Obama Care he has New Yorkers in mind. Having healthcare until 26 on our parents plans gives us more freedom to explore our career options, go to graduate school, travel and ultimately choose the career path we really want.

Chuck has also worked extremely hard to ensure the Bethpage plume gets fixed. For those of you who are not familiar with the Bethpage plume, it basically means the navy contaminated the water many years ago in Bethpage and it could be dangerous to drink. Senator Schumer has done a lot to try to ensure that it gets cleaned up and before we declare it clean, that it gets tested multiple times. As worry about the plume spreading begins, it is nice to know that a senator actually cares about Long Island.

Interning at Senator Schumer’s office taught me a lot. I was able to learn more about him as a person and he took the time to ask his interns questions about our families, high school, college and our ideas about the future. He was never judgmental and always open minded with our answers. For a politically minded nerd like myself, the internship has given me insight into how much politicians like Chuck Schumer helps politics. No matter if you love, hate or are indifferent to politics, it impacts almost every aspect of your life and having open minded, hardworking and down to earth politicians like Chuck Schumer is important to our Democracy. Therefore, in the future I hope to be writing and informing more about politics in today’s climate, as moving forward and voting is so important!

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