My name is Ally and I just started my junior year in high school. I wanted to write this diary to let everyone know why all my friends and I are supporting Elizabeth Warren and why you should too.
Other than my Mom and my Dad, all of my heroes have been teachers. My first interest in Warren came when I heard her say, “Growing up, my dream was to become a teacher. And I knew that if I wanted to teach, I had to get a college degree.” Not only did she fulfill her dreams against incredible odds and become a teacher, but she became a teacher of special needs children at a public elementary school. After that, she went on to achieve even more spectacular things: she became a law professor for more than thirty years at various colleges from Rutgers University all the way to Harvard University, and founded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) before becoming the first woman senator from the great state of Massachusetts.
After she became senator, Elizabeth Warren did not forget who she was or where she came from even after she announced she was running for president. One of the first two things that she proposed are two of the things that when she enacts as president will have the most profound effect on, not only my generation of students, but all generations of students to come. Elizabeth Warren proposed that every child has a right to a universal free public college education, and the cancelling of student loan debt because no child should be burdened for decades by their student loans. That means a lot to me, not only because I am a student, but because a year ago I learned that many of my teachers, my heroes, are still paying off their own student loans. But it’s not just personal, Elizabeth Warren’s proposals for universal free public college and cancelling student loan debt are rooted in the idea of affordable higher education for all.
The first time I saw my Dad cry was when I was five years old and Barack Obama won. The first time I saw my Mom cry was when I was thirteen and Donald Trump stole the election. The next day at school, many of my teachers were visibly devastated. Three years later, I understand why. From Betsy DeVos as the first Secretary of Education to hate Educators to keeping children like me who should be in school in cages, Donald Trump has been a disaster. I support Elizabeth Warren not only because she would be the first woman president, and that would be a great thing, but because she would be an awesome teacher president, and that would be an amazing thing. I support Elizabeth Warren not only for the children now suffering under Donald Trump, but so that future generations will be able to thrive, and that’s why you should too.
If you agree please follow me on instagram @backpacks4warren and on twitter @backpacks4w