Guest Writer - Madeline Garcia, 2024 Get Out the Vote Fellow

“Be the change you want to see in the world” - it's kind of cliche, but it is the well-known motto my parents dedicated to me growing up.

As a kid, I made bead bracelets and hand-drawn posters with the quote. Though I was as young as I was, I was not conceptualizing what making change meant in terms of the wide-scale impact I could have on society. I was thinking more along the lines of saving the turtles or building a dog sanctuary on a large piece of land for pound puppies.

But these kinds of positive impressions stick. Especially as a kid, they flow passively in the

background as you grow older and try to figure out who you are. While you try to adjust to the pressures of middle school and high school, you forget these positive values, but they never really leave you. Even as you’re more focused on how your hair looks, who’s viewing your Instagram stories, and ignoring your parents’ annoying remarks about your teenage lifestyle.

Once graduation hits, the looming question of ‘what am I going to do for the rest of my life?’

hits. Whether you decide to go to college, a trade, or the military, the decision feels permanent and irreversible. But suddenly, you’ve come full circle. The things you dreamed of becoming as a kid are in your hands to decide upon. Maybe you’re no longer determined to become an astronaut, professional athlete, or President at this point, but these childhood impressions and growing identity are your guiding principles whether you notice it or not.

As I took general education courses at community college, the weight of the decision got heavier. That is until I took my first American Government class. My experience with a mock trial course in high school combined with the fulfilling understanding of how the institutions around me work, it became all I could think about. I thought about all the ways I could help people and potential pathways for myself, such as immigration or civil rights law, working for a non-profit, or even becoming a representative. When making my decision to go into political science, I hadn’t realized how big of an influence such a simple quote like “be the change” and the many positive principles that come with it could have in my adult life.