By Aliyah Thompson, Fond du Lac
According to “What Do We Mean By “Civic Engagement”?” by Richard P. Adler and Judy Goggin, Civic engagement is defined as “Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern”. Staying civically engaged after high school is an important way to continue making a positive impact on your community and the world, but you may be wondering, how do I stay civically engaged after high school? To figure this out, Kayley Bell was interviewed. Kayley is a college advisor for YIG. She was in Youth In Government her junior and senior years of high school. She then went right into college at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, majoring in political science with a Certificate in in Public Policy. She is also studying history. In the summer after her senior year of high school, Kayley got an email about a position with Badgers Vote. BadgersVote is UW Madison’s civic engagment coalition. She decided to do it, and now she currently has a paid internship with them. She also works with CVP, Campus Vote Project, and serves as an election official. When asked how people could be civically engaged after high school, she said that there are countless different ways. This article will disscuss these ways.
Two easy ways to stay civically engaged are to vote and share posts on social media. An article from National Public Radio states that about 27% of adults ages 18-29 voted in the 2022 midterm election. Although this may not seem like much and still needs to be improved, it was the 2nd highest turnout rate in this age group in the last 30 years. It is important for young adults’ voices to be heard, and voting is an amazing way to do this. Another great way to stay civically engaged is to share posts on social media. Many candidates have social media accounts, so simply sharing one of their posts can make a big difference. You should always analyze the bias of the source and quality of the information before you repost it.
A couple ways to stay civically engaged after high school through working or volunteering is being a poll worker or helping people register to vote. Poll workers do many things such as checking in voters, helping people register to vote, checking IDs and processing absentee ballots. To learn more about working or volunteering for elections, contact your City Clerk or check out https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Become-PollWorker. My Vote WI is also your one-stop-shop for all things about voting in Wisconsin!
There are many non-governmental organizations that promote civic engagement. One of them is Badgers Vote. BadgersVote is an organization that promotes civic engagement at UW Madison and in the community by providing information on elections and candidates, educational resources, and hosting fun events to bring people together to learn about elections. There are also opportunities to work for non-governmental organizations besides BadgersVote, such as Campus Vote Project, the League of Women Voters, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation. To learn more about these opportunities, check out their websites and social media. You can follow BadgersVote at @BadgersVote on Instagram.
A few last things that you can do to stay civically engaged after high school is to financially contribute to campaigns, lobbying, and doing government internships. The Federal Election Commision defines campaign contributions as “ Anything of value given, loaned, or advanced to influence a federal election.” Lobbying means attempting to influence the government. If you are interested in doing a government internship, check out https://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/democrats/internship-program-summary-with-form/
For internships with the Democratic Party, https://legis.wisconsin.gov/assembly/republicans/employment/ for internships with the Republican Party, https://www.google.com/url?q=https://polisci.wisc.edu/internships-2/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1677974502055705&usg=AOvVaw3xcV34xzazPX3uouL0dLZ3 for internship opporunties through the Political Science Department of thw University of Wisconsin – Madison.
In conclusion, staying civically engaged after high school is an important way to make a positive impact on the world around you. As Kayley Bell said, there are countless ways to stay engaged, whether it’s through voting, social media, volunteering, or working with non-governmental organizations, contributing to campaigns, lobbying, and doing government internships. Staying civically engaged is especially important for youth and young adults, whose voices need to be heard. By taking action and staying civically engaged, we can all work together to make our communities and the world a better place for everyone.