On the importance of being politically aware

October 2020

 This month, we asked out writers to reflect on the returning to school in a pandemic - What has changed and what is the same.

Introducing Me!

McKenna Snow
Class of 2024

My name is McKenna Snow, and I am a freshman at Mount Saint Mary’s University. I intend to major in Business and minor in Theology. For all of high school, I lived in Kentucky, and made the almost nine-hour drive up to the Mount from Kentucky with my brother, Brett Snow, who is a junior at the Mount. I have grown up in a military family, so I have done quite a bit of moving in my life. My answer to the question of "where are you from?" usually takes a brief journey around the southern part of the U.S., as I was born in Texas, but have also lived in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, and most recently in Kentucky.

Family life is very important to me. My parents celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary this June, and I have a very close bond with all of my siblings. When people ask me, "how many siblings do you have?" my answer typically surprises them: I have seven siblings. I have one older brother, one older sister, three younger sisters, and two younger brothers. They are each very dear to me and I am so blessed to have the family that I do. Sure, having a larger family can make it more difficult to make plans everyone agrees on; questions like, "what movie should we watch?" or "what sounds good for dinner?" are typically questions we never get a one-hundred percent agreement on. Moreover, some people think that sharing a house with nine other people would be chaotic, messy, or cramped. In some aspects, they assume correctly; but sharing a home with nine people that I love has a way of making up for things like having a little less space, and a little noisier of a household. Each sibling brings special hobbies, talents, thoughts, and joys to the table. Despite some challenges that come with having a larger family, I would not have my family life any other way.

My educational background is that I have been primarily homeschooled my entire life. I took online courses through Mother of Divine Grace, an accredited homeschool program based out of California. Additionally, in junior and senior year of high school, I took dual-credit courses at my community college. This gave me a head start on earning college credits, and in familiarizing myself with college-level academics. I was drawn to the Mount because of its high-profile academic reputation, credibility in the fields I wanted to study, and because of my ties to Maryland, and Emmitsburg in particular.

Beginning when I lived in Maryland in sixth grade, I attended a summer camp called Camp Veritas. Camp Veritas is a week-long Catholic sports summer camp held at Summit Lake in Emmitsburg, Maryland. One of the most memorable parts of the camp schedule was when we would all carpool over to the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on the other side of the mountain, to spend the morning in prayer, and to listen to talks. After the talks, we would then walk down to the Mount campus for Mass in the large chapel on campus. I attended this camp for six years in a row, encountering the Grotto, and the Mount, in a meaningful and impactful way long before my college decision was made. Thus, even after moving to Kentucky, I was drawn to back Emmitsburg, and ultimately to the beautiful campus of the Mount.

While I lived in Kentucky, I worked as a barista at my local coffee shop, Vibe Coffee Elizabethtown. Working at Vibe Coffee for nearly two years gave me extensive experience with customer service, and also helped me develop better leadership and multitasking skills. This job cultivated my love of the world of coffee. Ultimately, my work as a barista became more than my favorite hobby; it inspired me to pursue a career in the coffee industry professionally. For this reason, I plan to major in business at the Mount. After graduation, I would like to own and manage a coffee shop.

I also have a deep love of music, and I am self-taught in guitar, ukulele, and the violin. Wanting to put my musical interests to good use in high school, I worked at my church, Saint Christopher Parish, as a singer for Mass for three years. This particular job taught me good preparation skills, because I had to learn and study new music for every Mass for which I sang. Additionally, it helped me overcome a sense of stage-fright, and the intimidation of singing in places where people were listening to me. I am now quite comfortable singing in front of other people, and frequently enjoy playing guitar and singing for my friends. Finally, I have extensive experience as a babysitter. Because of how much time I have spent with my three youngest siblings, who are currently seven, five, and three and a half years old, I am highly familiar with babysitting. Thus, I was also employed as a babysitter for children of various ages while I was in high school. This experience has helped me grow in patience, and it has deepened my love of working with, and spending time with children.

I did various volunteer work in high school. As a senior, I volunteered as a small group leader at my church for a Confirmation retreat. I gave a thirty-minute talk about life as a Catholic teenager, which was a good opportunity for me to become more familiar with public speaking. I also volunteered at my church’s Lenten Fish Fry, a church fundraiser and community event. Overall, I have spent approximately seventy-two hours doing this particular volunteer work for my parish, as well as other volunteer work around Christmastime through my parish.

My Catholic Faith plays a major role in my life, and I have a deep interest in studying theology at the Mount as a minor, and potentially as a major. The question "what gets you up in the morning?" yields an answer that begins with my greatest passion: love of Jesus Christ, and love for His Church. Every morning invites the question of, "What is God going to ask of me today?" I always discover that the answer varies. Sometimes the answer is simply that He wants me to do homework, or to spend time with a friend, or to spend extra time in prayer. And other times, the answer is to write an article for the Emmitsburg News-Journal! No matter what it is, I strive to arise happily with the intention to live my day wholly for Him.

Exercise your rights

Emmy Jansen
Class of 2023

There is no reason to live in a democracy if you do not care about politics. If you don’t care about politics, we won’t live in a democracy. For the people to be accurately represented, they must actively participate in the systems of representation. In Virginia, where I’m from, the voter turnout for general elections is typically less than 50% except for presidential election years. This means that less than half of the state is voting for the people who represent us in Congress. Imagine the results if the entire state was represented- likely, it’d be very different. Our government is not truly representative because only those who vote are being represented.

There is no reason not to vote. Absolutely none. It is part of your civic duty as an American citizen to participate in the democracy that defines us in the international realm. This means voting, at the very least. I voted for the first time when I was seventeen, before I had even graduated from high school. In Virginia and some other states, if you turn eighteen before the general election, you can vote in the primary proceeding it. I did; I checked each of the candidate’s websites, learned about their platforms, and made an informed decision. I have voted in every election and primary since, most of the time mailing in an absentee ballot from my dorm room. I thought every college student would be doing that, since we weren’t able to vote in person. It surprised me to see that none of my friends had requested ballots and wouldn’t be voting. It just wasn’t on their mind. How, as an American citizen, can this not be on your mind? How can you live in a democracy that prides itself as the forefront of liberty and equality and not work to keep that spirit alive? How can educated college students not understand the value of their vote? Of their voice? How can you be 20, 30, 40 years old and not have voted before? How do you call yourself an American?

My generation cares about politics, or at least seems to. We like to call ourselves politically active and knowledgeable but the vast majority of us aren’t. When I see posts on social media, sometimes I have to roll my eyes. There are grave misconceptions about government and politics, which I was only able to overcome by taking classes in the discipline. From a young age, I have cared about American government: I was involved in student government throughout secondary school, I contacted my local officials, I listened to NPR on my morning commute. My freshman year of college, I tutored a course about the foundations of American government. If I was at home for the November election, I would be a poll worker. So, when it came time to register to vote, it was a no brainer. It still shocks me that it isn’t that simple for most people. My older siblings don’t vote or just started to, even though they’ve had more years of opportunity than me. My college friends still aren’t registered. I understand that people didn’t grow up with the same interests that I did and are less knowledgeable about the political process. However, as college students in the 21st century who have access to the internet in our pockets, there is absolutely no reason to remain ignorant. It takes five minutes to register to vote. It takes twenty to research candidates, if you’re diligent about it. It takes ten minutes to walk and mail out our ballots. Not voting is laziness. Not voting is ignorant. Not voting is un-American.

But you shouldn’t care only when an election happens. You should care in the primaries. You should care about state, local, and federal government. You should care about the bills on the floor, the cases in the Supreme Court, and the governor’s addresses. How many of us can name our elected officials off the top of our heads? I didn’t, until I sought them out for myself. The key part of the political process that people fail to grasp is that the responsibility is on you. I wish this wasn’t the case, but it is through your own actions that you get involved, no one else’s. It isn’t hard to register to vote or even to do it, but it is energy spent in a different facet of life than what occurs in your daily life. It requires the retraining of your brain to think about things with the political lens. To be politically active means to be active, first and foremost. It won’t be handed to you, but through small steps you can become a strong participant in government.

I understand that there is a strong anti-American sentiment growing in my generation, or at least the media is perpetuating one. I understand that there are things happening in politics that people disagree with, me being one of them. But I do not understand accepting that as the way things should be. I do not understand being upset about it and giving up on our government. As the people for which this government was created, we are the ones who change it. With our votes and with our political participation, we create the government we want. That is how our country was founded, but it fails when the people don’t use it as they should. If only half of a state votes for their governor, the governor is not an accurate representation of what the people want. It makes sense that we would be dissatisfied with someone we didn’t truly want in power.

Voting isn’t the only way to be politically active, but it is the place to start. Vote in November and then vote again the next year, even though it won’t be presidential. Sign up to receive emails from your state and local representatives. Learn their names. Write them letters when you’re dissatisfied. Sign petitions- or better yet, write petitions. Watch a YouTube video on the basics of American government. Read a biography of your favorite American president. Attend school board and town hall meetings. Ask questions. Watch the news. Read a newspaper. Talk to your family and friends. Yes, talk to people about politics. To keep America as a strong, free nation, we have to rebuild the dialogue of government. It has been all but lost. We can talk to each other without agreeing. It may not always be easy, but neither is keeping the elephant in the room. As November gets closer, this dialogue is important. It is the building block of government and can easily turn the tide of history in the direction that we want it. But until then, don’t call yourself an American until you are a part of the political process that defines what "American" means.

Read other articles by Emmy Jansen

The Choice of Citizenship

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

The attitudes of citizens in our country with regard to political concern are quite varied. Some live and breathe political news, others hear about it from their friends and still others could not care less. As our country anticipates the completion of yet another contentious president election, we are confronted with the perennial question: should we even care about politics?

To answer this question, it would be appropriate to consider what we mean when we say "politics." Do we find the meaning of politics on FOX News or MSNBC? Perhaps we should search for a balanced presentation of its nature on the front page of the New York Times or Washington Examiner? Surely, we can understand the essence of politics when we observe the ways in which our politicians engage with one another at our nation’s capital.

A response in the affirmative to any of these options would be, by today’s standards, laughable. Another far less divisive way to look at political life is that necessary participation in social life. Because our human nature demands that we live with and for one another, we are inclined to live in community. Aristotle and Aquinas both would acknowledge that we are social animals and that we find our fulfillment by means of the community. Aristotle would even go so far as to say that a person who is so separated from social life to be considered "a-political" is either a "beast or a god."

After we recognize that dignity elevates us from beast and humility dismisses a divine identity, we are necessarily political beings. I wonder how similar this conception of politics is to the conceptions of most of our politicians. Do the latter view this political participation as merely a game, a series of frequent races that sometimes lead to victory and frequently lead to defeat?

If our politicians really do not think in these ways or if they actively deny this conception of political life, the question about whether we should care about politics immediately becomes more legitimate as a concern upon which to dwell. At this point in the inquiry, I see little reason to concern my time or mental energy with a game that is being played. The only concern I have so far is whether or not I am one of the many pawns in this high-stakes game.

At this point, I think it would offer us all a little bit of comfort if we were to consider what St. Augustine would have to say about all this. Augustine mentally formulated a brilliant conception of these two cities: the city of man and the city of God. In the city of man, citizens are concerned with themselves and their progress, their appearance and their goods. No matter where their focus lies, it is rarely, if ever, directed toward God. Those in this city feel right at home in the earthly world and feel that they are fulfilling their purpose when engaging in earthly delights. In the city of God, citizens do not share this same comfort. Augustine pictures the persons in this city as mere travelers, pilgrims in a foreign land. Instead of fulfilling their desires in the pleasures of this life, their actions are informed by a hopeful expectation of beatitude in the next.

Augustine is clear that these two cities do not cooperate with one another for the common good. Instead, they are in clear opposition and the human person is forced to choose whether their citizenship lies in the domain of God or that of man. I hope that this sadly superficial exposition of Augustine’s political thought informs our current question of whether we should be concerned with modern political life. If one wishes, at least on a theoretical level, to claim citizenship in the city of God, it seems to me that the answer to this question should be motivated by a concern for whether or not this sort of political participation is apt for such a citizen.

What are the concerns of a citizen in the city of God? It seems that an enthusiastic reply to Christ’s endorsement of the invitation to "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27) should inform our political life. Does participation in modern political affairs fulfill this command? Is it fitting for a citizen of the city of God to concern himself with contemporary political matters?

In the first place, it seems that it is appropriate for such a citizen to concern himself with such matters, no matter how unpleasant he might consider the time spent in such a way to be. At the very least, it is important for a budding citizen of the city of God to concern himself with these affairs because many other persons in his community concern themselves with day-to-day politics. An evangelical heart, one that desires to share the joy of the Gospel with all mankind, should be driven by a concern for the concerns of his fellow men and women. To be clear, this is not an intrusive and overbearing desire to involve ourselves in the intimate details of our neighbor. On the contrary, this concern comes from the ideal of meeting our neighbor where they are at every moment; in other words, this is love.

The sorry state in which our culture finds itself is certainly not by accident. Spirits of corruption and evil have invaded our systems because of the participation of human agents who were and are willing to participate. This corruption demands a healthy response from those who are wishing to claim citizenship in the city of God. As St. Paul says in his epistle to the Church in Rome, "where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more" (Rom 5:20). Therefore, our responsibility for ourselves and for our neighbors, even those with whom we disagree, makes it clear that an attention to politics is not only an outlet for personal interest but an opportunity to love.

Read other articles by Harry Scherer

American responsibility

Angela Guiao
Class of 2021

Should Americans be politically active? I think the most immediate answer is yes. The United States is a democracy. The laws of our land are dependent on the ability of our elected officials to advocate for the greater population. Not getting involved in politics means not getting involved with the decisions for our future and present needs.

However, in the current climate, it is easy to see why so many have decided either to be overly involved in politics or not involved at all. In fact, in my family, I see a little bit of both.

My younger cousins are very involved in the current political issues circulating society, and they base a lot of what they know off of articles or social media posts. They are much more vocal about the issues they feel passionately about. And they are more active than I ever was when it comes to signing petitions or getting their voices heard.

I would consider myself moderately involved in politics. There is the occasional post or share, but I wouldn’t say I go out of my way to advocate in person. I keep up to date on the political issues that I am concerned with, but I don’t actively look for others who have similar beliefs and look for ways I can get more involved. Sometimes I wish I were more involved, but politics, in my personal opinion, are currently very messy and divisive.

My mom wants nothing to do with politics. And in many ways, I understand why. With the upcoming election so near and with two parties with very different belief systems, it is easy to just want to take a step back way from all the hate.

Hate.

Currently, this is the word I associate most with politics. And I am not talking about one particular side. For certain issues, in my personal opinion, it has become less about the American people and more about the internal disagreements between each party.

This makes it difficult to become politically involved because you either don’t feel heard, or you do but you are faced with a bunch of people who judge you for your beliefs.

Therefore, I believe that, theoretically, you should be politically active, but realistically, the issues of politics have become less about the actual country’s problems and more about what party you associate with.

However, I do support political activism. No country has a perfect government, and there are plenty of issues that don’t directly affect me but still continue to exist. By acknowledging that, I also acknowledge that they are plenty of issues that many citizens directly deal with on a day-to-day basis. And because of this, I do believe it is important for American citizens to get involved with politics.

America has always stood for equality, justice and freedom, and I believe that the American people play a big part in holding those who regulate our laws and represent our values accountable.

From what I observed around me, my generation is much more politically active than previous generations have been. I believe this is because of the rise of social media, which makes it much easier to spread and share news.

My greatest concern with political activism driven by the information gathered over social media platforms is the tendency and opportunity to absorb false information. When my mom was younger, news was mainly spread through things like the newspaper, radio, or sometimes through the television.

While it may not always be entirely accurate, there was some sort of verification process that ensured the information being spread was gathered from a reliable source. Isn’t that what the news was for? To hear reliable information about current events.

In today’s day and age, it is much easier to read something not fact checked or reliable and believe it. And scarily enough, there are plenty of people who do spend the time to make false posts or videos with the intention of influencing the opinions of those who don’t make sure their sources are dependable.

But despite this danger, at a human level, I think we all, as citizens, have the responsibility to keep up to date with what is going on in our government. Sometimes, I think back to when I was younger, and I realized very few of the adults I knew actually voted. I didn’t think much of it then, but as I think about it now, and I think about why some of the people I know don’t vote or plan on voting, I’ve discovered that mainly it was because of how little information they knew.

Oftentimes the people I knew that didn’t vote knew snippets of information regarding politics but more often than not they weren't very up to date. I think it is this lack of information or the lack of readily available information that is to blame for thousands of Americans not participating in not only the presidential election but also in the primaries and caucuses as well.

I believe media plays a big part in influencing who decides to become politically active and why they feel they need their voice heard. People have more motivation to go out and vote for candidates that they believe represent their values and beliefs but oftentimes we depend on media to inform us who the candidates are and what their message is.

The issue with this is that media itself is often times biased and their articles are often written to please their main audience. This makes the media an unreliable source of information when it comes to politics, political views, and political issues. People should stay away from opinion pieces and base their opinions on more fact-based texts.

If more people spent the time to research what is going on in our government and realized how possible it is for their voices to be heard I believe more people would take the opportunity to get involved in politics through channels like voting and signing petitions.

America and its government were shaped by the American people. We created a government that allowed for all voices to be heard and we follow laws that generations before us decided would benefit the future. Being politically active should not be a choice but a responsibility because without the voice of the American people we would not be living in a democracy. It is time for us take the time and remember what America stands for and what makes our country great.

Read other articles by Angela Guiao

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