Savannah Brooks ’26
Managing Editor
I will state the obvious for the sake of those reading this issue in the digital repository 20 years from now; today is election day. After nearly two years of an unprecedented (I know, I’m starting to hate that word too) election cycle that somehow still seems all too familiar, we’re finally here. Of course, I hold no assumptions that the election will be called tonight; I will be trying my best to restrain myself from staying up until 5 a.m. with five different news websites pulled up on my laptop, and I encourage you to do the same.
Experiencing the election abroad (I am spending the year at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford) is undoubtedly incredibly strange, but in a much different way than I thought it would be. Constantly, when people here in Oxford find out I’m American, they immediately ask me; “Did you send in your mail-in ballot?” “Are you following the election?” “Who did you vote for?” While I assumed I would be dealing with my anxieties alone, I actually seem to have been appointed an ambassador for other, non-American people’s anxieties. I have heard more about the U.S. election here than any mention of U.K. politics; the Oxford Student (one of the university’s major newspapers) wrote about U.S. election anxieties in the third sentence of their newsletter this week. I promise I’m not just trying to brag at being at Oxford; my point is, I have always heard about the U.S. being “the best/most free country in the world” and such, and I am still, of course, skeptical about that. But, regardless of how you feel about the U.S., we are incredibly influential, and the world is counting on us today.
That’s a lot of pressure to put on us as voters, especially in a solidly blue state where it is easy to feel like our voices and votes don’t really matter. Most of you likely voted, or will vote today; 68% of Trinity students voted in 2020, compared to 46.5% in 2016. I hope that trend continues. So, if you voted, or plan to vote, and you feel like you are still powerless; I highly encourage you to seek ways to get involved regardless of what this election’s outcome is. In 2026, apply to be an election judge. Phone bank or canvass for a local politician up for midterm election that you feel strongly about. While Instagram activism can be tempting (and can be effective, if supplemented with other activist work), make sure to be an activist in the real world, too; call, email or write your representatives when you support or are against legislative action that they take or will take, attend local town hall meetings, go to protests. Most of all; pay attention. As a student journalist, this is easy for me to say, but the New York Times or the Washington Post will only tell you so much about how the government is affecting your life; make sure to stay updated with the Connecticut Mirror, the Hartford Courant or whatever your local paper at home is to know what is going on in your town or state. One incredibly effective way to stay informed is to follow your representatives on social media; even if you consistently disagree with them, they will almost certainly be posting about what legislation they are sponsoring or supporting, and you as their constituent have a right to weigh in.
If this all seems overwhelming, I get it. Paying attention when things seem so bleak is tough. Make sure to lean on one another; check in on your friends this week, and don’t hole up in your room (easier said than done). Even if you feel alone right now, I promise you are not. This moment is singularly terrifying; I know that I am not alone in feeling like we are teetering on the precipice of a new era, whether that be one in which we make progress or fall back into the dark. But, just remember, no matter how helpless you feel right now, you can make a difference. I know it is incredibly easy to fall into the doom and gloom of election season, when your friends are telling you your vote doesn’t actually matter and your social media feed is telling you the world has already ended anyway, so we might as well just give up. But I encourage you to turn these feelings of desperation and hopelessness into action within your community; voting is only the first step in the process.
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