GO! VOTE REFLECTIONS
Read what some of our team has to say regarding their participation and experiences with GO! Vote
GO Vote has been an incredible opportunity for me to reflect with my socially and politically active peers. With all the events that have occurred this year, I think it is more important than ever to join together and become civically engaged. Before beginning this project, I was personally feeling defeated and burnt out by the constant news cycle and hectic political discourse. I was experiencing so many emotions but not positively acting on my feelings. GO Vote allowed me to shift my perspective from larger socio-political issues to the Fordham community. It was important for me to realize that I cannot solve every problem in the world. Rather, I have to focus on what is in front of me. Creating the Instagram page, hosting weekly meetings, and collaborating with the IFTJ track has allowed me to become more civically and socially engaged. I have gained so much from this project, and I hope to continue educating and involving the Fordham community!
~Sarah Cassidy, FCRH 2021 | Psychology
My experiences with GO Vote have been positive and beneficial. Being able to have the opportunity to educate myself about certain social issues has led me towards a positive path of understanding. Furthermore, gaining and spreading information about the recent election has not only provided me with the necessary information I needed to vote successfully, it also ensured the spread of this information to the rest of the Fordham community. The importance of such social issues is pressing and my experience in GO Vote has focused on the reflection of these issues. This experience is very beneficial because it emphasizes the important aspects of civic responsibility and social awareness prevalent in society today.
~Anastasia Pezza, FCRH 2024
Spending the semester as a part of the Go Vote team has been very impactful for me. I have really enjoyed having a group of people who care about social justice to talk to about our very tumultuous time in history. The news cycle is very hectic these days and it's been very helpful to have a format where we can get our thoughts out in a productive and meaningful way. This experience has also helped me become a better speaker, has helped me organize my thoughts and better understand the world around me. Listening to everybody’s thoughts about our current political landscape has definitely made me think about the world in a different way and think critically about the policies that have lasting impacts on the communities around us. The work this team has done to increase voter turnout among the Fordham Community is incredibly important because it teaches our peers that they have an incredible amount of power through completing their civic responsibility. If our generation wants to see change in every area of society that needs it, it is imperative that we show up in our communities, and the first step to doing that is through voting.
~Diya Patel, FCRH 2022 | Math/Econ
I decided to join GO! Vote this semester as my first experience with GO! because I have heard from many close friends that Global Outreach programs are extremely informative and a great way to get involved in the Fordham community and beyond. When I heard about this digital GO! project, I was thrilled. This year in particular, the pandemic compounded with politics, it appeared even more important than in the past to be civically engaged and to encourage and educate others about practicing civic duties. Furthermore, it provided me with a productive outlet for my passion for social justice.
So far, I have met a group of wonderful individuals who are equally passionate about civic education and social justice. In weekly meetings we have discussed activism in the age of social media, and we continue to create content for an Instagram page that has a following of primarily our peers. We learned about the details of the voting process, and addressing the issue of voter suppression that has plagued our elections since the foundation of our country. We seek to be a resource for college students who often find themselves overwhelmed by the pure volume of information found online. At the same time, we want to convey the message that “social media activism” is not enough, and suggest ways to go beyond posting.
~Julia Mayes, FCRH 2022 | Chemistry/Environmental Studies