Kelly_S

What //do// I believe? For me, the answer to that is still in the making. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve only started to pay attention to politics in the past couple years, but then again, it’s still not easy to immediately form an opinion on issues I see on the news. For most of my life it was easiest to try and ignore politics. The stress and arguments over points of view just dug rifts between the best of friends and to me, always led to the same oxymoron: You cannot be opinionated unless you are educated, but you are not educated unless you are opinionated. Sometimes it all seemed like a waste of energy; I always thought I could find other ways to be influential. But then my conscience kicked in… when is it ever best to take the easy road? Founding this country wasn’t easy, and neither was establishing our power in the Western Hemisphere or fighting for Civil Rights or gaining women the power of suffrage. Nearly the entire history of our nation has been defined by the defense of our basic human rights. Doing what is right has never been easy.

I believe that everyone has a voice, and it is our obligation to share that voice. We may belt it out or we may hold it back - we have the right to do both. But in a democracy, there will always be a time when we will feel the need to belt it out. There will be an issue that we are particularly moved by, that we will feel the need to defend. I am merely seventeen, and don't really have the big worldly picture yet, so I believe in the right to educate myself on those issues that I care about. I took this class for that very reason. It was a baby step, but we all need to start somewhere. It's not going to be easy, but nothing in a democracy is ever easy. There will always be arguments and debates that pit one political party against another. But if we did not share our ideas, we would never accomplish anything resembling compromise. I want to hear what other people have to say. I want to become educated, so that when the time comes for me to belt my voice out, I can do so in a persuasive, effective fashion. I, myself, am still in the making. I don't know exactly what I believe yet, but I do know that it's time to start figuring that out.