by Nick Hammond ‘25

Especially since the past Presidential election, many students have been feeling demotivated to vote or participate in the political process, or even pay attention to the news, for a multitude of reasons. While most high school students are too young to vote and for many the current state of the world may seem rather bleak, there are still a plethora of ways to contribute and influence your and others’ lives by focusing on a smaller scale.

Obviously, most of us simply don’t have enough time to fully and consistently commit to all of these things. However, the reality and hope that there are actual steps we can take to influence our daily lives. The following strategies are ordered based on level of effort and the level of outreach from smallest to greatest. Try to find ones you may be interested in, and apply them to your own interests and situation.
Helping other peers or friends on a personal level with struggles: striving to be personally vulnerable yourself and also supportive to friends and family is a great start and can help you learn what you and others around you care about most.

The next level is to reach out to people and support those who are not as close to you, such as peers at school who seem to be struggling, those on social media you may not know as well, reaching out and checking in on extended family etc. Being open to others’ perspectives and feelings about the current world will help you to have more productive conversations.

Additionally, engaging and learning about our local government; taking time to learn about perspectives by talking with friends and family, and doing things like reading this newspaper to learn about student, teacher, and administrator perspectives and about well-researched topics relevant to our student body all are great choices. Furthermore, researching local officials, offices, and representatives can help you learn who is responsible for what in our area, and who to contact if you have any concerns you’d like addressed by the county or state. While Olney and surrounding areas do not have town councils or a town government, we still have a strong and active County Council with elected representatives. Taking the time to share your opinions and ways to improve your community can lead to direct benefits for you and others in your life. Though national politics can feel difficult to influence, you have much more weight over your local government, and thus will have more control over your daily life.

Trying things such as creating or signing petitions, joining protests, volunteering for nonprofits or community groups, or even going door-to-door or calling in support of a candidate who may especially resonate with your beliefs all could impact results in the next election. By attending or watching town halls and council meetings online, you can learn about what is currently being acknowledged, worked on, and recently achieved in your community.

Look into even one of these strategies and try your best to get your voice heard. You never know what can come from a single conversation, call, email, or even message! By gradually engaging more and more over time within our communities, we can help to keep our futures from sifting through our fingers before we know it.