My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I started middle school. My family had to wait a year and buy a new insurance plan that cost almost double the previous plan to get her treatment. I am so lucky that my mom made it, but it could’ve gone horribly wrong. This experience opened my eyes to the reality that society is deeply flawed in many ways, and fueled my passion for politics.

I realized the government and large corporations who control much of our lives do not care about the average American. Their number one goal is to gain as much power and wealth as possible with little regard for how it affects others. My mother and so many others like her are victims of an insurance industry that cares more about their bottom line than the wellbeing of patients. Our society has degraded to a point where money is more important than the lives of our fellow Americans.

This experience set me on the path towards democratic socialism. Online media played a critical role for me at the time because it allowed me to consider a wider variety of ideas compared to other media outlets. I began to gravitate towards democratic socialist ideology because I liked the authenticity that came from people on that side. In fact, I consider many independent media outlets online to be more trustworthy than mainstream corporate media. Youtubers like Kyle Kullinski showed me that there are people in politics who truly care about the common man and fight for them everyday. I had my eyes opened to the harsh reality of the world at a young age. I searched for a way to channel the frustration into something productive. This search led to majoring in political science with plans to attend law school.