The second-year advocacy projects that I visited allowed me to understand what people my age are worried about. The advocacy projects that I choose to look at all had some type of interesting factors that appealed to me. Two of the advocacy projects that I looked like included voter information and voter necessity.
This topic is very interesting to me, because it allowed me to look on how to help solve a problem that effects my age group. Not many people who are my age want to be bothered with politics or learning about their candidates. For example, I would ask my friends who voted and a majority of them would say I voted for them because my parents voted for them or they were from the ‘right’ political party. Not only is there ignorance on candidates, there is not a lot of interest or education in the process of voting. For me the only reason that I voted was because I had parents who shown me how and what to do. I had parents who helped me register to vote and tell me where my polling place is. Many people my age their parents do not put that interest in voting and that unfortunately, rubs off. The advocacy projects allow me to see how to fight against voter ignorance and nonchalance.
The other topic I choose is a part of two interests of mine: art (dance) and history. Many people do not take either of those subjects to heart. Those are the classes in schools that many slack off or do not want to learn. The project was about the use of dance in diplomacy and how it was used in the cold war. I have never heard of this before, and thus it piqued my interest. The project’s topic shown me that things that many do not think are important are what holds the world together like dance, music, and study of history. These types of subjects have shown the humanity in a difference verse, and not just numbers on a paper.
The projects I chose were to allow me to find out ways I could help in advocating for these ideas. Such ideas include how to give voters the information on their candidates in a non-bias way, or places in which they can find this information on their desired candidates. I was also able to see the ways to help get voters to the polling place, and to help them understand how much 1 vote can count for any type of election. Both of these projects also stated that to help with voter knowledge and participation would be to educate the general public about their options. The dance advocacy project allowed me to see what something that is not a normal diplomacy action can allow for a common language between countries that seem to have nothing in common. Just like dance is a common language throughout the world so is the knowledge of the humanities and the necessity of that is something that is sorely lost in the American education system.
The projects have inspired me to look more into the subject of the importance on humanities in k-12 education. I am not sure if I will use that as my own advocacy project for next year, but I do know is that, that topic is of great importance. With the practice of reading over the projects, it has shown me that many people may age have something that they are passionate about and what others to know. Whether that issue be about voting or about the education of those in American schools, they want people to be passionate about the issue. They want others educated on the issue, so that others can understand the issue itself, and not just someone standing on their soap-box.