2018 Midterm Elections

Covering this year’s historic midterm elections was an experience like no other. It felt a little less chaotic than the 2016 Presidential election, most likely because this was not my first go around with all day election coverage. I knew what to expect and how to navigate the high-tension news environment, and was able to remain calm, cool and collected.

This election day, I was also able to report on a story. In previous years I served as a peer editor for print pieces and a video editor for broadcast packages. This time it felt good to pitch, report and edit my own story.

I covered a youth led movement called, Walk Out to Vote, on Election Day. This movement was spearheaded by a collection of youth led organizations that began after the shooting in Parkland, called the Future Coalition. The event called for students to get up and walk out of class of on election day and march down to the polls. The nationwide call to action was twofold, the first half was to protest that students don’t have election day off of school, saying that that action is method of voter suppression. The second, was the show officials that young people will not be ignored, and that they would do everything in their power to make sure their voices are heard this election cycle.

The package I did on election day was my second story I did on the walk outs, but this time I was able to cover how students were getting politically involved in my immediate area. Most schools in the DMV have election day off, so there was no class for them to ‘walk out’ of, but that didn’t stop them. Young people still went in droves to the polls at the designated walk out time, in solidarity. Also, students at George Washington University hosted an alternative walkout phone bank party. Where students were able to drop in throughout the day to call and text registered voters across the nation and encourage them to make their way to the polls.

I enjoyed covering this story because I felt like a lot of people were talking about young people this election cycle but not exactly talking to them about how they were getting involved this year. It was also refreshing to see young people gather together to encourage the rest of the nation to enact their civic duty.