Fall semester of 2016 has been a challenging yet fullfilling one for me. I've politically grown is many ways as I had the opportunity to learn about the history of our government. Our class was also fortunate to experience the presidental elections in which I was able to participate in for the first time. I had the chance to reserach and write a Profile about Hillary Clinton which I will also share after my reflection.
Reflection I wanted to write my reflection on being politically aware of the situations that are happening in the communities and how to use your voice to see change. I have learned so much from this course especially since I took this class during this past presidential election. For the first time in life (literally) everything I was learning was being played out in front of me. This was a treat for me, and I feel that I gained my own political voice and had the ability to share it with others. I remember from multiple readings (chapters 4 &6) learning about different types of campaigning styles and then watching these styles take place in the media during the election. The different kinds of styles taught me a lot about morals and ethics and how sometimes political leaders get caught up in the game and forget about morals or making decisions based on what is ethically right. During the actual voting for the president I got to experience and witness for myself the unfairness in the electoral college voting system, that was real disappointing for me. At the same time, I also felt a refreshing desire (regardless of the negative effects that social media is covering) from the American people that have spoken by electing President Donald Trump. America wants change, and they’re confident that our newly elected President Donald Trump will deliver. It was interesting to read about our Constitution, and to learn more of the rights that were set up to protect the American people. I had opportunities to research more candidates that were running for other positions and read their platforms and see the communities and organizations that were there to support and give donations. I had the opportunity to research and learn more about Hillary Clinton (she’s amazing) who fortunately was a candidate running. Although when I first chose her I wasn’t a big fan, but after doing weeks of research I gained a lot of respect for her which leads to my final thoughts. If there is one thing I take away from this class, it would have to be not judging a candidate running for any position from what is heard in the media. We must really be political scientists and do our research into that person and look at the values they hold. Most important, we must be stewards in our communities and take concerns to the leaders that were voted in to insure our voices are heard.