More Reasons to Vote By Alex Mak
I knew I would vote; my eighteenth birthday was coming up just before the presidential election. I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to do my civic duty. But that was the extent of it: my civic duty. I had no other reason for voting aside from not wanting the other party to win. (I was once told that voting gives you the right to complain.) I held onto opinions I heard from others and hadn’t given much thought about what I was voting for. It was an unlikely Government teacher that would give me more reasons to vote and teach me what it means to vote.
Mrs. Smith had this way about her, like she was taunting me, egging me on to challenge her beliefs (and usually the beliefs of my classmates, too). She challenged us to think critically and present arguments if we didn’t agree with her opinions. She wanted us to find holes in her arguments. She didn’t hold back from finding holes in ours. Arguing with Mrs. Smith taught me about my own beliefs. Defending my views against her made me truly understand what was important to me and what was worth defending. Time and time again, she would dismantle my assertions, and I’d go back to the drawing board.
Over the course of my senior year, my discourse with Mrs. Smith became a game. She would argue a point and show an example to back it up. I would argue back that she was using examples that were skewed to match her beliefs. She used sources from organizations that she found trustworthy, but I thought were one-sided. I would speak out against these biased injustices and she would always offer to accept examples of alternative perspectives.
Providing an example takes effort, more effort than I was willing to put forth during my senior year of high school. Soon, the rest of the class seemed to jump on Mrs. Smith’s bandwagon. Her opinions were strong and agreeing with the teacher was easy. My empty arguments got annoying to my classmates.
So, I started looking into the holes in my own opinions, and researching evidence to support the ones that were most important to me. I started to realize some of my opinions were just based on what others had told me. I’d taken these things to be true and supported them without reason. I ditched some political ideas and took up others I didn’t think I would. To be a worthy opponent in Mrs. Smith’s political opinion game, I had to support my ideas. I started putting in some extra work, initially just to spite Mrs. Smith, but it eventually became more than that. While we went back and forth during class, I learned how to research what politicians say and support. I learned to look at the entire picture during a political campaign, to see the strengths and weaknesses in both sides. Essentially, Mrs. Smith taught me how to make an educated vote and to listen to the other side.
Mrs. Smith gave her students more than a dry, by-the-book teaching style. She gave me something to brush my opinions and ideologies up against. All year, she encouraged us to vote, and she taught the importance of taking part in the political system despite the outcome. That fall, Mrs. Smith’s candidate won and mine lost. We kept up our back-and-forth for the rest of the school year, and I kept learning.
* * *
I despised Mrs. Smith. Everything about her was the opposite of me. She listened to NPR; I wanted nothing to do with it. She openly talked about her political beliefs and prompted discussions when someone disagreed; I held my political beliefs tight to my chest and preferred not to talk about them. This was how I was raised. My parents never told me who they voted for, only the ideals they believed in; I could usually guess the rest.Mrs. Smith had this way about her, like she was taunting me, egging me on to challenge her beliefs (and usually the beliefs of my classmates, too). She challenged us to think critically and present arguments if we didn’t agree with her opinions. She wanted us to find holes in her arguments. She didn’t hold back from finding holes in ours. Arguing with Mrs. Smith taught me about my own beliefs. Defending my views against her made me truly understand what was important to me and what was worth defending. Time and time again, she would dismantle my assertions, and I’d go back to the drawing board.
Over the course of my senior year, my discourse with Mrs. Smith became a game. She would argue a point and show an example to back it up. I would argue back that she was using examples that were skewed to match her beliefs. She used sources from organizations that she found trustworthy, but I thought were one-sided. I would speak out against these biased injustices and she would always offer to accept examples of alternative perspectives.
Providing an example takes effort, more effort than I was willing to put forth during my senior year of high school. Soon, the rest of the class seemed to jump on Mrs. Smith’s bandwagon. Her opinions were strong and agreeing with the teacher was easy. My empty arguments got annoying to my classmates.
So, I started looking into the holes in my own opinions, and researching evidence to support the ones that were most important to me. I started to realize some of my opinions were just based on what others had told me. I’d taken these things to be true and supported them without reason. I ditched some political ideas and took up others I didn’t think I would. To be a worthy opponent in Mrs. Smith’s political opinion game, I had to support my ideas. I started putting in some extra work, initially just to spite Mrs. Smith, but it eventually became more than that. While we went back and forth during class, I learned how to research what politicians say and support. I learned to look at the entire picture during a political campaign, to see the strengths and weaknesses in both sides. Essentially, Mrs. Smith taught me how to make an educated vote and to listen to the other side.
Mrs. Smith gave her students more than a dry, by-the-book teaching style. She gave me something to brush my opinions and ideologies up against. All year, she encouraged us to vote, and she taught the importance of taking part in the political system despite the outcome. That fall, Mrs. Smith’s candidate won and mine lost. We kept up our back-and-forth for the rest of the school year, and I kept learning.
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I’m someone who is seeking mentors and people to learn from. When someone invites me to tag along I go, when I hear about a book or movie from a friend I watch and read them. I listen to the people who have lived longer than I because there is something to learn, even if our opinions do not line up. I enjoy the outdoors and have had many inspirational moments while on the trail with a good friend, maybe in a bit of pain, but generally, learning something on the adventure. I spend most of my time outside because it is where I learn the easiest. |