What issues matter to you the most in this election? Why?
I care about the environment.
How do those issues connect to your life and the lives of those you care about?
I want to be a zoologist. I care about the environment because I want a future for my job.
When did you first start caring about these issues? Was there an event that happened or a conversation you had that piqued your interest?
I watched Wild Kratts when I was four, so I was like, ‘Man, this animal stuff is pretty awesome.’ I’ve been studying them ever since.
If you could take a class on one or more of these issues or dig deeper through your own research, what else would you want to know? What questions would you want answered?
I would want to learn what the average person can do [to help the environment]. Everyone knows ‘throw away your stuff in the right place, don’t buy much plastic’ and stuff like that. But what more you can do as just a normal person [who’s] not a crazy activist? That requires a bunch of your time, and a lot of people don’t have that.
What issues do other young people around you seem to be concerned with, whether you agree with them or not? In other words, when your friends and classmates are discussing something politics-related, what’s the conversation usually about?
I’ve also seen that a lot of people around me care about the environment, [along with] rights for minorities, whether that’s trans rights, Black rights, Hispanic [rights] or kind of all the above.
Do you think people your age can affect meaningful change regarding these issues? Why or why not? Have you ever taken any steps to try to address these problems?
I think that, to an extent, kids can have an effect, but you still can’t vote. But you can persuade people to vote a certain way. I do what the average person does who cares about the environment. I don’t go all out like Greta [Thunberg] or anything like that. I just do what most people do, but if people were more educated on that topic, it would be easier for me and others to get on board with different things.
Have you been following the presidential race? Do you know where the two candidates, former President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, stand on your issues? Which candidate, if either, do you think will make positive changes to the things you care about? Why?
Most of my [information] is from my dad who follows [the election] super closely; he cares a lot about it. The other part is just from news headlines and the debates, which are mostly for entertainment at this point, to be honest. So from that perspective, I think that the person who stands more with my views is Kamala Harris.
Are there other candidates for local, state or federal offices who have the power to make positive change about the issues that matter most to you? Who are they, and why do you hope they are elected?
Jimmy Carter; I think it would be funny to have a 100-year-old president.
Do you think young voters will be energized by the 2024 election? Do you predict that they will be motivated to vote this year? Why or why not?
No, it seems like most people who are young are not voting because of both of the candidates. When it was Biden, both the candidates suck[ed], but I guess now there’s an actually [a] good [candidate].
