For about two months, ending on November 8, I interned with Ohio Together, which was the name of the Clinton Campaign in the state. Throughout my life, I have always been fascinated by politics but this was the first time I actually took part in a campaign. When I came to college, I decided that this was the time to finally take action, especially since it was the year of an extremely unusual presidential election. At one of the meetings with College Democrats, I added my name to one of the multitudes of lists, signifying my interest in becoming a Fellow, which is what the national campaign calls its unpaid interns. A few days later, I was contacted by the Clintonville organizer and offered an internship with her, since they needed all the free help they could get.

Throughout my internship, I made hundreds of phone calls, knocked on hundreds of doors, and entered data for hundreds of voters. Much of the time, I felt as if I was not accomplishing much, because people would not answer their phones or just did not want to listen to what I had to say. The reason for making all those calls, though, is that a couple people on each list will be convinced to come volunteer. For every few doors no one opens, there are conversations with excited supporters or people who you can register to vote for the first time.

In general, I am an introverted person. It was slightly terrifying when the first people answered their phones or their doors, because I have trouble talking to the people I do know, much less asking complete strangers for their commitment. Working with the campaign forced me to overcome that fear. I learned that although there will always be people who are rude no matter what you say, there are infinitely more who will wish you luck, even if they disagree with you. I also learned that adults will often ignore you if you look too young to vote, but that is a whole other topic.

Clinton rally at OSU (Photo by Tinae Bluitt for USA TODAY College)