To Every Student I’ve Ever Taught

Guest Opinion | TX3DNews

By Angie Carraway | Democratic Candidate for Texas House District 89

To Every Student I’ve Ever Taught

During early voting, I was outside a vote center, greeting voters and thanking people for coming out. Then a young woman walked up, and I knew that face. It took me a second. I was used to seeing her in an eighth-grade classroom.

She had come to vote. And it stopped me in my tracks.

Look, I know you all grow up. But in my head, you’re still at your desks, dreading another assignment, and asking if this is going to be on the test. I hadn’t stopped to think that you’re old enough to vote now, or that some of you would find my name on your ballot.

For years, I graded your work. And now it looks like you’re grading mine.

BACK ON THE SOAPBOX

If you were in my class, you know I had a soapbox. Every year I climbed up on it to talk about civic duty. How you have to show up. You have to vote. And that a democracy belongs to the people who actually use it.

Some of you listened. Some of you watched the clock. I never knew what stuck. But outside that vote center, I found out.

SHOW YOUR WORK

So grade me the way I graded you. Make me show my work. If I make a decision, you deserve to know why. If I speak for this district, I’d better have listened to it first. And everything I do should be for the people I serve, not for whoever writes the biggest check.

Expect that from anyone who wants your trust.

YOU BELONG HERE

Now here’s what I expect from you.

The system is going to tell you that you’re too young for this. That you don’t know enough, or that politics isn’t for people like you so you shouldn’t bother.

But I’ve been in the room with you. I’ve watched you argue a point, ask better questions than the textbook, and catch me when I got something wrong. You’re ready. You belong in politics. You belong at the polls. Not someday in the future. Right now.

Politics is going to touch your life either way. It’s in your paycheck, your rent, your doctor’s bill, and the classroom your own kids may sit in someday. The only question is who gets a say. You are the deciding factor in whether politics works for you or happens to you.

Every right we studied was won by people who were told to wait. A lot of them were your age. Don’t take a politician’s word for it. Believe the history.

YOUR LAST ASSIGNMENT

So, I’m not writing to ask for your vote. I’m writing to tell you to use it. I’ve been on this soapbox too long to ask nicely.

Tuesday, November 3. Go vote. Bring a friend. You never did a group project alone, so don’t start now. And this is the one assignment you can’t turn in late.

We must vote,

Ms. Carraway

Editor’s Note: This column is part of TX3DNews’ Candidate Opinion Forum, which provides candidates for public office an opportunity to address voters in their own words. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of TX3DNews. Publication does not constitute an endorsement. Candidates running for the same office are invited to submit opinion columns for consideration.