Why We Should Be Political Educated Essay Example

At a young age I discovered a deep desire for uninhibited learning, the freedom to know what was beyond my small town borders. It didn’t matter to me what I was learning, as long as I was absorbing information. This concept of learning everything soon began to shift as I got a little older, and I became enthralled with the American political sphere. For me, I found that most of my political education came from basic political socialization within my home and school, leaving me with internal partisanships and a close-minded approach to life. While I was aware of my biases and non-conducive approach to learning, I did nothing to change it, until my my freshman year of high school. 

By the time I had walked onto the campus of Chatham Hall in the August of 2015, I already knew that I wanted to major in political science at a left-leaning west coast university. This image of my future left little room for deliberation, and even less room for diverse political discussion. Then, in just two short hours, I was pushed into a heated political environment. Being forced to speak with young women who were just as passionate as I was, but were part of the opposition, was new and terrifying to me. This initial experience served as a prelude for what was to come. Every day was a new discussion, a new argument and disagreement. There were days that I struggled to hear my voice among the masses of my fellow students, and I often felt frustrated and confused, but even more so because the individuals that shared my views were so open to creating a dialogue that housed conflicting views. I couldn’t comprehend the idea that people wanted to publicly engage in political conversation with people who clearly disagreed with them. Through seeing the tolerance that my friends exhibited I began to realize the true importance of politics, strong and frequent political discourse. 

Our society is a chaotic political atmosphere, but only because we choose for it to be that way. Every time an American citizen chooses to abstain from political discussions we regress. We chose to remain comfortable, never rocking the fragile political boat, but it is only hurting us. In my case, choosing to close myself off from the other half of society was hurting my intellectual growth, but in the greater scheme of things not engaging only hurts the American people. By ignoring the importance of the political environment we are only discouraging education and widespread thought, as well as invalidating the American core values. How can we be patriots and champions of our nation if we aren’t aware of the state of our country? How can we call ourselves citizens when we aren’t doing our civic duty? Politics seem trivial, and quite recently have been demonized by the media, but they are the foundation of democracy and American society.