Elections season is upon us, as you can no doubt tell by the political ads that litter the television and side of the road. This election is special for me because it’s the first presidential election that I will be eligible to vote in.
This week I attended the local candidate debate that was held on campus. I was dreading going mostly because I am not too fond of politics. Before this week, I wasn’t even sure I was going to vote in the election. After listening to the debate, I’m sure I will.
The debate was part of a series that is held to help students gain knowledge about the upcoming election. Candidates for the N.C. House of Representatives, N.C. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and Watauga County Commissioners participated in the debate.
They debated on subjects like environmental issues, current economic troubles and education reforms for both public schools and universities. I was surprised to hear that most of the candidates in their respective parties had the exact same ideas. The republican candidates wanted to implement more budget cuts while the democrats wanted to raise taxes to fix our economic and education issues.
The debate was very informative and helped me decide who I wanted to vote for. Honestly, more teachers should have required their students to go so that they could be informed. These people will implement policies that will drastically change our lives, and we should know what their plans are before we vote for them.
I’m extremely glad that I attended the debate because it gave me an idea on who I want to vote for. I hope that more students will become interested in not only the presidential election, but the local elections as well.
Miranda's Blog 