Whenever I tell people that I want to be a Biomedical Lawyer I’m either met with a reaction of consciousness, amazement, or uncertainty. What does that mean; where did the idea even come from; how do you plan to do this? I get those questions very often. The biggest being about the ‘lawyer’ part. As a child I’ve always been influenced by my mother and her love for biology so it was no surprise when I appealed to the same thing. But law? That’s an entirely different profession altogether.
My story and interest for law traces back to a few years ago, in the early COVID days. I’m not sure when exactly I decided I wanted to become a lawyer, but I do remember watching the series West Wing a lot and really just being fascinated with the schematics of how the White House worked, the different jobs and tasks everyone takes on and the just in general what everything meant. As a kid I had no clue about what bipartisanship or trickle-down economics was, or why filibusters were crucial for one party at times, but I was hooked. I wanted to understand what that was like, be a part of it. I slowly took to politics, eager to learn. That was also around the time when the 2020/2021 election was starting up. I remember following primaries and caucuses, wanting to learn more and sitting in for presidential debates. When I was much younger, around elementary school, during the 2016 election our school had allowed us to participate in the election in our own way by fake voting, and the results were announced at the end of the the day just before we were let out. At the time none of us had a clue about politics, what each of them stood for, but rather that there were two candidates and one was more appealing than the other. In 2020-2021 when I looked back to that moment I found it amusing how much has changed with my profound interest in politics. I was partially disappointed with the presidential debates, not being as thrilled as I hoped or understanding enough to be fully engaged, but it was still exciting to me. And at last came the fully anticipated Election Day where I took the day off from online school to live blog on the election, posting about each state won or lost, the economy (even though I didn’t understand much) and my opinions. It took two days for results to fully came in and by then I was exhausted, but it was a very memorable experience.I remember hearing and tuning in to the 2021 Capitol riots firsthand and being mortified. Was this really true? Was this really happening in our own country? When did it, or moreover, why did it get to this point?
Leading us to today, in 2024, exactly 4 days after the election. I think this was a particularly nasty election, in the way that elections have progressed these past few years as well as the general responses from both sides. Before we get into that let me tell you where I was this past Tuesday.
I am still unable to vote, being below the required age limit. However, I still wanted to be invested within the election process since it is an incredibly important day and moment for not just us as a country, but also many other countries within the world. Instead of doing another live election series, I worked as a Poll Worker. For about 10 hours that day, I sat and printed ballots, checked in voters, and assisted others when needed to help with the election process. When one can’t vote why not try a different way to participate instead? In short, as much as a memorable experience as it as, it was very boring. It may be possible because the precinct I was working at was brand new, and many of them early voted, but it was a very drawn out turn out. In my opinion, I feel that there was far more to the voting process than I first believed. Prior to working I needed to complete a Poll Worker training which entailed operation of the machines used, appropriate behavior form the election workers as well as for the incoming voters, and much more. Far more goes into planning and taking care for the election and voting process than I believed. And, there is also the fact that we performed one version of the voting process with paper ballots while some do digital voting.
For us, the process of voting went like this:
First, get checked in using an ID. This includes a drivers license or permit, as well as other forms of acceptable photo ID, followed by confirmation of address and personal information before it is confirmed by the one checking you in. This is then approved and a ‘receipt’ is printed, then scanned to print out a ballot for teh voter. The voter is asked English or Spanish – or a different language if asked- and it is then printed. Once printed it is stamped with the precinct Judge’s special stamped, and gave in to the voter. The voter then completes filling out the ballot and turn it into a machine which processes it and collect the ballot before giving a confirmation that it has been read and processed.
I had previously believed that a voter was simply checked in, handed a ballot, and it was then dropped into a box which was sealed and sent somewhere to be counted.
In reality, I spent the majority of my time waiting for voters to enter the building, talking to the other poll workers – especially a sweet elderly lady who had been doing this for at least 10 years now, making miniature paper cranes out of scrap poll printer paper, and competing with the other check in desk over who can check in the greatest number of people. I met some great people, all adults who dedicated their day off to running this precinct, and learned about their prior experiences for running primary elections or Election Day at other precincts, and heard crazy stories about upset voters or a lunch rush where swarms of voters came in at once. It was a good experience to have, being on the other side of voting a s someone who couldn’t, because I got to see the people who showed up within my community- as well as a number of first time voters including a few of my classmates who are seniors, as well as see the different steps done if someone didn’t have proper registration, or an address issue, or had a provisional or spoiled ballot.
I also want to add that I am currently taking AP United States Government and Politics this year, and I found it particularly interesting as well as exciting to be able to learn about our government and the structure as we go through the election process. That in general provided a greater source of knowledge and insight for me as I went through Election Day and the days after it since I had a better understanding. Now, to the actual election part. As soon as I got home I turned on the TV, or more my dad did while I made sure I completed the majority of my work for school, and sat down to see the ongoing coverage. The key races for the 7 swing states was heavily focused on, as well as in depth reports of each county, senate and house races as per usual, as well as predictions from different news channels prior to AP calling the results. I remember going to bed with the electoral college being at 0 for Harris, 197 for President Trump, and waking up to seeing an increase in ballots yet a still a major gap between the two candidates. On Instagram I went through a series of stories and reposts from people I knew, calling out voters and their own predictions and arguments as they also tune in to the election. However, it’s until the next day where we all came to school where it’s as particularly unsettling.
The greatest divide between our country has further depended following this election. Let me be clear, first of all I can’t vote yet, so anyways asking me who I supported wouldn’t be as important. Furthermore, I personally believe that my own political opinions and ideas aren’t strong nor individualized yet for me to be able to share them. Something I learned, and have always known, is that family is one of the biggest influential factors for children regarding politics. That, alongside schooling, peers, media, and in general exposure as you go on in life that can constantly sway or harden your values. For me, since I’ve only recently started to get more into politics, I have mostly been influenced by my parents, especially by my dad who has very strong political opinions and interest in geopolitics, and for that I tend to see a lot of things from his view, rather than my own. For that, I don’t want to share any of my opinions since anything I said would me be repeating word for word his ideas rather than my own, when I know there could be a strong possibility of me ending up thinking entirely different at one point. For this, why does it matter to someone else what I think or who I support? That first of all is nobody’s business, being a personal matter, and is up to me to decide whether I want to share or not. Furthermore, even if I do keep quiet why does that give you the ight to assume on my behalf? If I choose to say I don’t want to say anything accept it and move on rather than making an assumption that paints me negatively until I share what I really think. For this reason, I have chosen limited responses to people who choose to be vocal about the election and their beliefs, even though I have so much to say. But for this post, I’m going to share an insight of what I think about the election based on my limited knowledge and experience with others who followed this election.
First of all, it felt like President Trump would have won in the end. In my opinion, President Biden was reaching his limit due to his age and in general his public appearances. It felt like he couldn’t adequately perform or appear to the bets of his abilities compared to President Trump, and because of that, couldn’t properly advocate for his policies. Furthermore, with the time period that Kamala Harris took over to run and the time that campaigning officially began, she was on a time crunch. 5 months is not a lot of time to campaign, nor was it to effectively separate herself from president Biden’s name and his actions as president when she was running. Had President Biden conceded earlier, much early on then perhaps she could have had a higher chance, but it still wouldn’t be enough. She would have still been linked to him, and now, after the election, she’s lost any chance of her running again and starting over. Secondly, President Trump would be a better president in the fact that he would have been able to actually get things done and would have achieved far more than Vice President Harris would have. Look at this, Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, during President Biden’s presidency. President Biden is a Democrat, and they advocate for women’s rights and abortion. However this still happened during his presidency. This is because the issue of Roe v. Wade is not in his hands but the Supreme Court’s hands. We have three branches of government, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each with their own respective roles and powers to keep each other in check and balanced. With this, major decisions made that involve the constitution and securing our rights are due to the judicial branches, and in this case the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is currently at a Republican majority, meaning that Roe v. Wade was easily overturned because it had a greater majority who do not advocate for abortion. Not only that, with the Senate and House elections, there is a Republican majority. I believe the last time this happened was in 2003-2007 with President George W. Bush having a Republican majority in the Senate, house, and in the Supreme Court due to his nominations. With this, even if VP Harris tried to pass legislation for abortion or women’s rights, or tried to veto something, she would be easily overturned. The Republican Party has an extraordinary amount of power as of right now, which is both dangerous but also, in a way, good as more can be done. We usually talk about the government begging slow, which is true since the framers didn’t ant thee to be to much change or restriction on our rights, making that the process of passing en bills to be difficult with a number of ‘safety’ measures. That is further emphasized by there being a clash between parties, causing a gridlock since there is nothing much that can be achieved if both chambers of Congress don’t agree, or if there is a partisan divide. With this, at least we will see more progress of something happening for our country than not. Not only that, people simply saying we need to vote for VP Harris or that why wouldn’t you when you’re a woman, POC, or whatever is beyond me. Okay, so apart from who she is, what about her policies. Is there anything other than these specific qualities that would make her the right candidate? Anything apart from abortion rights, transgender rights, or gay rights? What about immigration, social security, the ongoing wars, foreign policy? We have so much more at stake than just voting for a president who is a woman and of color. Besides that in what way would she also benefit us. This is not in any way to drag VP Harris, but rather to genuinely ask those people who have only justified voting for VP Harris with this. There is so much more about her campaign than simply that she is a woman and represents those of color. Simply relying on that is not enough. What else has she done for me or will do for me? Roe v. Wade can’t be overturned unless she adds more seats to SCOTUS, and even then she needs to have them reviewed by the Senate, which at this point is a Republican majority. What is the best bet that a Republican majority would so easily approve 4 brand new Democratic-aligning or similar holding beliefs judges if they would vote against the policies study support? Not as likely.
Another thing I want to talk about is how bad the party opposition has begun these past few elections. There’s this constant demonizing of each side when your’e against someone, that it feels unnatural to view them any different. We have been brought up in this constant environment of this party is manipulating you or this party is taking away your rights or just a constant demoralizing of each other. Elections are getting nastier by the second as each of the candidates continue to mudsling each other, and the way that one’s political beliefs can so easily divide us at this point. Let me tell you, one’s political opinions do not entirely define them for who they are. If someone voted Trump that doesn’t mean they support everything he does. They may just vote for him because he’s the figurehead for the Republican patty, and that voter believes in the ideals of the Republicans over the Democrats. They may also support more liberal views while being a Republican, such as abortion or same-sex marriage, or even vice versa. But because we have already painted this awful picture of each side we refuse to to let anyone even breathe if they say their opinions given the chance it is different form your own, and will attack them. Same thing for the Republicans who would often degrade VP Harris for her achievements sayings he slept her way up. Since when have we started doing this to our candidates? At this point it’s more of each side dragging the other in terms fo who tehy are rather than what they stand for, and that’s not a good thing. I have seen constant posts and responses about the election, especially from my friends, saying we’re cooked, or that this is the worst time to be alive, or whatever, when I need to resist the urge of saying, will you guys ever listen? Unless you actually truly understand what is going on, what anything means and understand both sides, why are you already making assumptions. Now I’m not necessarily saying I like President Trump- he’s an awful person for his own behavior and actions over time and some of his policies and reasoning are unfavorable. Not only that, everyone lives in fear that he will implement Project 2025 when he himself has stated and expressed several times that he does not believe nor support that. Yes, he may not have the same views of abortion as we would all like, but he isn’t taking it away altogether. The reason I highlight the Republican Party and President Trump over VP Harris and the Democrats is because of how badly the media portrays Republicans. I remember when I was going in depth for the Republican candidates and their individual beliefs, I was reading so much about the Republican Party beliefs and each of the candidates’s beliefs I found myself conflicted. That coupled with what I know now from APUSH and AP Gov makes me understand what each side walks for and sees for the good of the people. If we start at the very core of each other these party’s beliefs, they aren’t that bad. But over time they have been portrayals so badly and falsely that we see them to be demonic or whatever. When we go back and actually understand American History, the presidents and how our government has changed over time due to different factors, the urgent positions today make so much sense, and then you can actually pick out what they stand for and what you want to stand for. Republicans are more conservative and lean far the rot religious views since President Reagan tied the party with White Christians. because there was so much change going on in the country, with the influx of different immigrants for belief and religion, he advocated fro the common grounds everyone was familiar with. As people became more open to hints against the normal at the time, he created a platform that abided with the ‘old ways’, and garnered support for it that still remains to this day. If we take out that aspect as a whole would the views be different today? Possibly yes. One of the things I do appreciate this year is states putting abortion rights on the ballot and allowing people to vote for that, instead of leaving it up to just the president and government officials.
For people of my generation please stop believing just the media for everything. Stop relying on what your favorite artists or family believe in and please try to create your own opinions. Not everything is as it seems and if you just take a chance to actually read and listen to what is happening, I guarantee you that you will find yourself aligning with a set of ideals you never would have known yourself to. In school, I have had a friend who has posted on Instagram a talked in person for the election results and there have been times where I wanted to tell her so many times to stop. First of all, calling races so early on when there is only a small percentage of votes counted is dangerously, especially since it’s been known for states to quickly turn in different directions when you least expect it. Secondly, based off of seeing election reactions on Twitter as well, is it really necessary to block everyone who disagrees with you? Like, I understand that there are some people who may be incredibly rude or insufferable when it comes to these and you need to, but if someone just has a counter argument you wont even listen to them? I see tweets of people saying that people who voted Trump because of their conservative ideals and not because they like the candidate should be jumped or whatever and I’m like there is no need to go that far for anything?? Can we not respect others’ opinions now? And furthermore, I have seen countless posts and things saying that if you voted for Trump you’re being blocked because I don’t want to be associated with someone who voted against my rights, and has different morals than me in the way that they voted for someone racist, homophobic, hates women, and so and so. Or that blaming everyone who voted against Kamala are homophobic, racist, misogynistic, sexist, stupid, and such, is wrong. That is not the lesson we should take from this election. This same person who posted during election night happens to be a good friend, and came up to me the day after like “Oh, Rovija are you one of Trump’s little dickriders?” I was so caught off guard from first seeing her, and because I had music playing I didn’t even process her question until a few seconds later. First of all, school was not the right place to discuss this nor was it the right time. Secondly, I can’t even vote??? I understand the intention to ask who I supported but the manner in which she asked was rude, inappropriate, and offensive. There is no reason to go around asking that for any reason at all. But also, there was a point she posted about Jill Stein and was asking why was she even running when there is a very clear and reasonable explanation for that. (Although we follow a two party system we do have independent parties with their won bellies that still run and can have candidates)
The whole purpose of this post isn’t to pose myself at a higher level than others. I’m not bragging or trying to convince anyone of one side or the other, but rather hare my whole reactions and opinion of this whole elections and the responses I’ve seen from my own friends and other members of my generation. I am so sick and tired of people believing false this go so easily, not wanting to actually read and understand the truth and what things really mean and instead follow a norm presented by one side all the time. Please read or educate yourselves a little more about certain things before you do anything, because it may not affect you now, but it will definitely affect you later in the future. I don’t want to correct or go against anyone in the sense that I’m saying they’re wrong, but I just want to say that half your questions can be answered if you just read, or you can easily understand the other side if you actually listened. You will be very surprised just how much you already know is either false or entirely different than what you may actually think it is, and I guarantee that will give you a different perspective and idea of politics in general. I myself have so much to learn about, but this is what I’ve concluded from the past few years and classes I’ve taken, being invested in politics and following these candidates. I may be wrong in some aspects and I’m fine with people telling me that, but not having enough evidence or calling me a possible dickrider or that I should be jumped if I have a different belief than you is wrong and I will not stand for it. This goes from both sides. In the results, the fact that the Democratic Party has lost not only the election (both the electoral and popular vote) for president, seats for both Senate and House, and the Supreme Court, doesn’t reflect the voters but instead the party itself. There is so much more I could say, but this is in general my opinion over the election. We can only now wait and see what happens, if we will face another repeat of 2021 again or one thing worse. The fact that we have to have extra security and barricades along government buildings is mortifying. That’s usually seen in countries that have unstable governments. With countless riots and coups, but the fact that it’s gotten to thus point is beyond me. We can only wait and see what these next 4 years will show, but for now, that’s all I can say.
