我想找到一种方法，在不牺牲时间或学分的情况下，将我的政治学教育与“现实世界”的经验结合起来. 为政治竞选活动全职工作的前景似乎令人望而生畏:没有其他大学生可以交往，我将被扔进一个紧张的职业环境中——更不用说我之前没有任何经验了. 但这些让我感到不安的特质也让我非常兴奋.
Me with a Texas-shaped waffle
So I started the campaign search. I sent a few emails to random campaigns that I had briefly seen on the news: Randy Bryce for Congress in Wisconsin’s 1st district (Paul Ryan’s seat); Beto O’Rourke in the Texas Senate race; and Phil Bredesen in the Tennessee Senate race. 尽管提供了免费劳动力，但没有一个竞选团队给我回复. Additionally, on a whim, 我给德克萨斯州第23选区的候选人吉娜·奥尔蒂斯·琼斯的竞选活动发了一封电子邮件. 我妈妈的同事大约十年前和她一起工作过，坚持认为她不仅是一个非常令人印象深刻的候选人，而且是一个非常好的人. 几个小时后，竞选团队的人就回复了我，邀请我接受采访.
Me and Congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones.
我花了一个小时和竞选活动的一位现场组织者通了电话，我知道如果没有其他消息, this was the way to go. 他们有一个小团队，这意味着我可以承担更大的责任. The office was based in one of the largest US cities, San Antonio, which appealed to me much more than being in Janesville, Wisconsin or a satellite office in rural Tennessee. And finally, I would be working for a woman! A badass, young, veteran woman of color at that. 我做了决定——我将在2018年秋季学期为吉娜·奥尔蒂斯·琼斯工作.
In late August, I drove from New Jersey to San Antonio, Texas in my newly-purchased used Honda Civic, stopping in Nashville, Tennessee, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Dallas, Texas, among other places. Once in San Antonio, the campaign had set me up with supporter housing, a lovely couple whose kids were away at college. My first few days on the campaign were weird, 有点令人困惑——有点像大一的前几周. 我在日记中写道，我感觉像“一条离开水的鱼”." The campaign was in full swing, 大家都知道这是我们一生中最重要的选举之一. 所有的工作人员似乎都忙于与支持者交谈, going to events, traveling with the candidate, 或者与媒体沟通，让我了解我在竞选中的角色.
But eventually, I got the hang of it. I would listen in on every meeting; I would ask every question. 我试图了解实地工作所需要承担的责任. 很快，我就被问到是否想成为一名全职的野外组织者. The campaign team was small, 我们的外勤主管需要有人来监督麦地那县, a rural county west of San Antonio. 几乎每天，我都会开车去麦地那的小城镇，和选民们交谈. 有一天，它将成为宏都，一个大约8000人的工人阶级城镇，主要是西班牙裔. 我会和人们谈论移民、医疗保健和退伍军人福利的重要性. 另一天是卡斯特维尔，一个大约3000人的白人保守小镇. 在这里，我会和人们谈论社会保障、持枪权和吉娜的从军经历. I’d drive to Lytle: 2,500 people. Natalia: 1,800 people. Devine: 4,000 people. D’Hanis: 548 people. All the while, talking to people about Gina and what she stands for, making connections with progressive organizations, and most importantly, listening to the issues people cared about.
说我离开了自己的舒适区是一种轻描淡写的说法. I saw a few too many guns than I cared to see. I ate more meat than I think I have in my entire life. 我和我不同意的人交谈，这让我感到不舒服. 我花了很多时间独自驾车穿过德克萨斯州的乡村道路.
Me with my team!
但它也让我了解了美国的内部运作. 我被迫不仅要倾听特朗普支持者对问题的看法，还要努力理解他们. I talked to thousands and thousands of people, and in the end, 我了解到我们的共同点比我们的分歧要多. 我知道这听起来很老套，但经过这次经历后，我真的觉得这是真的. 我永远不会忘记与51岁的西班牙裔男子亚历杭德罗的一次对话. 起初，他看到了我的t恤，挥手示意我离开，宣称他永远不会投票给民主党人. But he guiltily apologized and waved me back over. 他告诉我，他最关心的是退伍军人的问题和华盛顿的僵局. 我告诉他，吉娜自己也是一名老兵，在华盛顿做过贸易和国家安全方面的官员, first under Obama, but then under Trump. He told me that he thought Dreamers should not be deported, 但在美国人出生之前，他们不应该享受免费医疗或教育. 到目前为止，我已经学会了如何与我不同意的人交谈. When I asked him more about this, he told me that he had grown up very poor in Los Angeles, and had to work extremely hard to get to where he was now. 他觉得特朗普在以其他政客从未有过的方式倾听他的意见. But something happened. 我听得越多，理解得越多，他对我就越敞开心扉. He thanked me profusely for talking to him about this, 从来没有人这么做过——通常他们只是因为他有特朗普的贴纸而对他大喊大叫，然后继续前进. 在我离开之前，他给了我一个美国国旗别针，那是他从军队退役时得到的. 他眼里含着泪水，告诉我这对他来说极其重要，但他想把它给我. 我告诉他，这总是会让我想起“那个没那么坏的特朗普支持者”." He laughed, 摇晃着我40分钟前递给他的书, said: "You know, I might vote for this Gina person."
Election night!
参加竞选学期是我做过的最好的决定. 我对这个国家有了很多了解，对我自己也有了很多了解. 我变得自信、独立，并在寻找我想要的生活的路上走得很好. 我知道我已经尽我所能让这个国家变得更美好.
