Gen Z- Gabriela Aguilar Castillo

One of the three things that stood out from the reading, “Gen Z Voters on the Issues that Matter Most to Them Ahead of the Election,” was a specific statistic mentioned, “Pew Research Center says 1 in 4 Gen Zers in the U.S. is Hispanic.” which stood out to me because I was not aware of that. It is shocking to read that because the numbers are growing, we (the Latino community) can reshape the U.S. with our vote. Secondly, while reading “Gen Z is about to go to the Polls, Many for the First Time. Here’s What They Care About”, a particular opinion from Gen Z’s were that they believe young people don’t vote because they don’t think they can change anything, which I think is a bizarre opinion that occurred in several of their interviews. After all, there is so much information on the web that says otherwise, and many young people are tech-savvy. Last but not least thing that stood out to me from the reading, “Gen Z Rising: 6 Things to Know About Gen Z, Politics, and 2020”, is that surprisingly, there are still Gen Z’s, specifically a quarter of Gen Z’s, out there who would vote for Trump after what he has established during his term, and to me, it is unbelievable which is why this statistic stood out to me.  

I can’t speak for my peers, but after getting to know most of my peers, I believe we are more leaned towards being progressive than conservative. These portraits of Gen Z can only be identified with my sense of who I am to a certain extent. The statistics are not arguable. Some begin with the fact that we are in a pivotal moment of history, and Gen Zs are the youngest people voting in this year’s election, which is true. However, although we are the youngest, we are still well informed, and we aren’t just voting as we see fit but portray our vote for the ones who aren’t able to. This connects to what I would change of these depictions of Gen Z’s, we are young, but we have experienced a lot under this current administration, from the Black Lives Matter movement to the deportation of hundreds of immigrants, and we are not voting on a whim.

Suppose I was interviewed for any of these stories. In that case, I’d stress the importance that I am voting because the U.S. must establish, for lack of better terms, a better immigration system. I feel that many Gen Z’s understand that their vote is essential and that it is our civic duty to vote. I was exhilarated after reading these texts because so many of Gen Z’s are voting to see change and seen that after Trump’s administration, the U.S. is in shambles, which calls upon us to get up and act.