Where Do We Go From Here?...

**(This is not apart of the required blog posts for class but I need to write my feelings out and also I want this on record.)**

As we were about to start class today we got the news that Elizabeth Warren dropped out from the race, talk about perfect timing (not). My heart sank and I got a little choked up. True to our candidate's nature and her campaign we "persisted" through class (which started with playing Frozen's 'Next Right Thing', a reoccurring theme from NH) and some of us went to lunch after to lick our wounds together. While that temporarily lifted my spirits they were quickly dampened with the cesspool that is social media.

This one hurts. A lot.

Working your heart out for a candidate makes the sting all that much more unbearable. All the door-knocking, the phone calls, the early mornings and late nights, the town halls. It puts so much more at stake. Meeting her was a defining moment, she was sweet, genuine, and compassionate. I am grateful I got to thank her and hug her. While I don't remember what I said I know I thanked her profusely, hopefully coherently. It just made everything more solidified and real to me.

I remember my professor asking me in October when I was expressing interest in this class what candidate I wanted to work for and without hesitation I answered, "Elizabeth Warren." My feelings never changed and have never wavered. She is not a flawless candidate and there is not a single one that is. She is the real deal and this countries greatest loss.

I obviously knew this was coming after Super Tuesday and I had the feeling of existential dread since that night but did not make hearing that news any less sad. I am disheartened for the little girls who, yet again, will not see a woman make it to the Oval Office. I am frustrated for the women who have paved the way before me who will, yet again, just see the glass-ceiling only crack, never shatter. I am vexed that once again sexism and misogyny prevail in this country. Watching her interview earlier today when she said the hardest part was the pinky promises she made and how those little girls would have to wait a little bit longer. I just lost it, it is heart breaking because we were this close (AGAIN) only for America to let us down. If Hillary couldn't and Elizabeth couldn't, then who can? That's the question I have. I am tired of people saying we aren't ready for a woman, if I hear this impudent sentiment one more time I will scream. How can so many qualified women not get the job done? I have no answers for you, I just do not get it. If Elizabeth Warren was a man she would be winning the primary right now. Sexism was a huge factor in this race and you cannot tell me different. In the words of T-Swift, if she were the man then she'd be the man.

As of right now I do not feel like persisting, I do not feel like dreaming big or fighting hard, I do not feel like choosing courage over fear. I am scared like hell and I feel like sitting on the floor and crying. But I know that is not what Elizabeth Warren would want. She would want me to keep studying for my Constitutional Law midterm (that I stopped doing to write this), get an A on it, go to law school and become a lawyer to fight for the people like she has and does.

I don't think I'll ever get over what happened to Elizabeth Warren and I don't know if this feeling of hopelessness will go away because things look pretty bleak right now. If you're in the same boat as me, give yourself time to grieve and be sad. It's okay and we will pick the ball back up and our tears will dry. Tomorrow is a new day and we must move forward even if we don't really feel like it and do the next right thing.

I leave you with this, from Senator Warren's interview with Rachel Maddow:
"We can't lose hope with this. We can't lose hope because the only way we make change is we get back up tomorrow and we get back in the fight- we persist."

This is my mood

My two future presidents. 

The only thing to bring me joy in the last 48 hours.

The Day After: Final Thoughts

Last night's results are not what I hoped they would be and while it is super disappointing I am still very proud to have been given the opportunity to work for Elizabeth Warren and be able to spread her message. Her plans are strong and attainable. She truly is the candidate who can unify the Democratic Party to be able to defeat D.T. I will say hats off to Senator Klobuchar, her debate performance was really strong and she really came up from behind in the polls.

To be honest with you I don't think states like Iowa and NH should go first because they aren't really diverse enough in all aspects to have such a task of representing the country as a whole. I am excited to see how she does in Nevada and South Carolina. Not throwing in the towel yet!

This trip was nothing like I have ever experienced and I feel lucky to have been apart of such a unique event that happens every four years in this country.

Nevertheless, we persist!

Day 9: It's Happening!!!

FIRST-IN-THE-NATION PRIMARY DAY IS HEREEEEEEEE!!!

Today is the day! Voting day! We were able to go to Nashua today and work out of that office. We canvassed two packets, almost everyone was on their game and had already voted. That is what I like to hear!!

Today was surprisingly a more chill day for us so we finished kind of early today and that is all I got!! Enjoy some pictures I snapped!

LFG!!!!!

 Some cookies I saw at the office, thought they were super cute!

 A beautiful day for canvassing :)

Day 8: Doing the Next Right Thing

Monday's are for fresh starts!!!

Heading to a new office today in Portsmouth, NH! It is a super cute city that sits right on the water. Very homey & quaint, right up my alley! Today was also super special because Dr. JSM tagged along with us!

We started off the day with a ROAD TRIP!!! My favorite! We totally jammed out to Disney songs and I am not ashamed one bit.

Getting to the new office we were greeted by a sweet and amazing staff. They were amazed we came all the way from Florida to work on the campaign. Then we were sent on our way with our packet to go canvassing. This was probably my most pleasant experience thus far. The people we were able to talk to were absolutely wonderful, we met lots of supporters. We even got to do a second packet today which we knocked out quickly.

In between our first and second packet we got to explore downtown Portsmouth and take cute pictures. We saw some historical landmarks, the outside of Mike Pence's event, and some tugboats. We also had the best coffee I have ever consumed, if you find yourself in Portsmouth, NH check out Cup of Joe. 10/10.

After completing our second packet the day got even better and we went to a town hall Elizabeth Warren was having, we were determined to get our picture with her!! I think this now the fourth, maybe fifth time I have seen her in NH? I have lost track at this point. I could quote her speech back to you at this point. I did enjoy it just as much as I did the first time though. There was a question someone in the audience asked her trying to "trap" her and she handled it like a pro. Trump could never.

The town hall was coming to an end, we all held our breath waiting for her to announce her selfie line and SHE DID!!! YAY!!! I don't think I have ever jumped higher, lol. We got to meet her, I don't really remember what I said to her, probably thank you and some other ramblings. It was just indescribable. I am about to get super cheesy but the thought of a woman president literally makes me so emotional and just getting to meet her was a dream come true. I have always admired Senator Warren and being able to shake her hand, to thank her, was seriously unreal. Even if she isn't your preferred candidate, you do have to commend her work as a private citizen and public servant. We even got our group picture with the infamous RTWH shirt, the picture we took is so cute. We all look like little kids on Christmas.

We ain't done yet!! Then we went to heckin Maine! We unfortunately did not get our lobster because everything closes at 8 there (fun fact). We saw lobster so that was good enough. Now I can say I have been to Maine so that's pretty cool.

This was the best day ever, my heart is happy!

It's Primary eve!!! One more sleep!!!

 Van selfies are now tradition at this point. #wecute

 Almost there!!!

 The only wall we need in this country is Elizabeth Warren's wall of plans. My inner type A was singing.

One of my favorite plans 

At the entrance of the Portsmouth, NH office

 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

When you accidentally match. Who wore it better? That's a trick question, we both did. 

 Spotted out on our canvass :) 

Quick coffee break, these pics are so cute <3

 These two were my saving grace on this trip. Love them forever. 

 Literally anyone 2020?

 In front of a pretty church

 In front of a historical thing

 Seeing who can look the most uncomfortable in front of the Mike Pence event. The closest I wanted to get if we are being honest.

 Posing in front of the tugboats. Portsmouth is the cutest!

 

I never smile like that, lemme tell ya

When you meet one of your biggest inspirations in life, haha

 At this point Bailey and I are best friends. Even though it doesn't look like it. 

My favorite picture from the whole experience. It may or may not be my computer wallpaper. 

This is the closest we got to having lobster in Maine, I'll take it. Technically I have been to Maine. Yaaaas as Dr. JSM would say. 

P.S.: Real quick- Just want to shoutout Dr. McLauchlan for all her hard-work. When there is a problem she fixes it immediately and I have never seen anything like it. It is some Scandal-esque stuff. She truly is the real deal and we are very lucky to have someone like her at USFSP. Always taking care of her students and doing everything she can for us, she has a heart of gold!! She planned everything for this trip, down to every nitty-gritty detail and she is amazing. I'll never stop saying it! (She literally even got me my job at the law firm I work at!!!) She gave us the best day ever in Portsmouth, she made the whole trip. I don't call just anybody a queen, so thank you Dr. Queen. ❤️

Day 7: Snowflakes & I'm Not Talking About Liberals

We are now two days away from primary day in New Hampshire!!

This morning my professor had Senator Yarbro, a senator from Tennessee come speak to us. He is one of the few democrats that is in the Tennessee senate and for that we commend him. That truly has to be really rough. He talked about how it can be a challenge but at the end of the day they are all colleagues and respect each other.

After that we were taken to Concord to do a GOTV event for Elizabeth Warren. We were able to volunteer at the event and that entailed making sure all the people attending were checked in and receiving stickers to be granted entrance. It was a little disorganized but it's ok because we improvised, adapted, and overcame! That's what we do here! We did get to listen to Senator Warren speak again and she was just as enthralling for seeing her for a third time. This is what I mean! I have only been in NH for a little over a week and I have gotten to see the senator speak multiple times. They have unlimited access here unlike Florida where I have never been able to see a presidential candidate as easily. I'll never get over it!

The best part of the whole event was we got to meet EW's political surrogates who are the most amazing ladies!!! Congresswomen Deb Haaland (NM), Katie Porter (CA), & Ayanna Pressley (MA). They were incredible and so super sweet! Rep Haaland is the one of the first two Native American congresswomen. Rep Porter is a single mom and best known for her amazing work with consumer protection and women's rights. Also, heard she was an amazing professor and we love that! Ayanna Pressley is one of the four freshman congresswomen and she was one of the first black women appointed to Boston City Council. All three are exemplary examples of what a public servant should be and they inspire me so much!! My favorite was seeing Jocelyn (Ms. Hall) meet Ayanna, she cried (I did too, lol) and was so happy that it made me happy. She got to meet one of her heroes and it was really amazing to witness. Ayanna even followed some of us on Instagram later, a true queen.

After our fun-filled day we headed back to HQ to do a quick canvass. Voters are still undecided and I am not going to lie to you, it really stresses me out. We are only two days away people!! It SNOWED while we were out and I got to see real snowflakes for the first time! They were so pretty and angelic. Overall, had some great conversations with voters and really valued what they had to say.

To finish off the day Erica's super sweet parents, Andie & Greg, came from Mass to take us out to dinner for a much needed break. They even took us to Target and I was able to buy a real winter coat for a whole $20. We love savings. Target + Hibachi = <3

Overall, was a great day. Some pictures below from our day!

Had to snap a quick selfie while volunteering :)

Didn't know a selfie line was happening so I thought this was my only shot

I see a President with some of her cabinet members, hbu? 

My heart in this moment = full

Snowflakes in my hair, I was a little too excited with how perfect they were. 

Erica's darling parents ❤️

My job for the day

Pasco girls gotta stick together 

You know I had to get a Boomerang in the snow

RTWH gang with Senator Yarbro

All of RTWH Team Warren with the queens!

Day 6: Guest Prof, A Congressman, GOTV Canvass, & 100 Club Dinner!

We are 3 days away from the FITN primary, ahhhh!!!

Today was another day filled with non-stop activity!

I may have woke up this morning with a little food poisoning but it's ok we persisted! We started the day with a guest, Professor Scala. He gave us really great insight on the 2020 democratic race, we also read some excerpts from his book and we got to discuss that as well. Immediately after him we met with Congressman Chris Pappas. Fun fact: He is the first LGBTQ+ person elected to the New Hampshire congress, we stan. He was a super nice guy who had lots of advice to give about working across the aisle.

Next, we went to our campaign HQ. Guess what we did!? We canvassed. Today was a little different because our office was the kick-off for a big event that the Warren team was having. We even had a special guest, Congressman Jim McGovern from Worcester, MA. He gave us all a motivating speech before we hit the ground to knock out a packet. Having some really good conversations with voters and having good weather it was a perfect day to canvass.

The last event of the day was going to the McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner! My professor is a queen and scored us tickets to the dinner. Even though we did not get dinner, our purpose was to watch the people sitting on the floor watching the candidates speak. We were able to sit in the Warren section to cheer her on when she came out to speak. The RTWH students even had the privilege of holding the enormous letters that spelled "courage." I held the G because I am as the kids would say, a "G" (gangster) It turned out to be more of a daunting task than originally thought because there was a method to their madness but that's ok, we overcame! I attached a picture that EW uploaded to all her socials below!!

It was awesome seeing all the people of the Democratic Party speak. We saw alllll the candidates speak, Raymond Buckley (I mentioned him earlier, he's the chair of NHDP), Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a couple of different NH senators/reps, Rep. Chris Pappas, & many more.

Little fun side story for you. We were texting in our group chat and someone asked (jokingly) for our professor to bring us food. She ended up actually coming from the floor to bring us shrimp in a napkin because she's an angel. We acquired the shrimp and began passing it out among our group. Wait, it gets better. Fast forward to tonight and I am looking through C-SPAN footage and they zoomed in on us passing the shrimp down and you can see us stuffing our faces. Iconic, honestly. I attached the video below. I'm pretty sure you can see me licking my fingers, we keep it classy.

After a journalism student from American University interviewed Erica & I, we gave him our opinions on Elizabeth Warren. Stay tuned for updates for when that piece is published!

A GREAT day, can't believe the trip is almost over!!

How ILL I looked this morning.

 Thank u Mr. Terrell for the tums, I owe you my life.

 Waving at Tom who got to sit with the fancy people!

 Look who came to say hi!!!

 We made it to C-SPAN babbbbyyy

 RTWH group with Congressman Chris Pappas

 It was huge in there

 Smiling through the pain of holding giant letters :)

 Sending hearts to Dr. JSM, Jose, & Tom. 

I want to be Senator Jeanne Shaheen when I grow up because she literally has a dinner and a sign named after her. We stan. 

Technically we made it to all of EW's socials because she posted this on all of them. Basically famous.

I am dead