This interview was originally published by TheSkimm.
College freshman Cassidy Recio Brenes is excited to vote for the first time. Like, really excited. “I never shut up about it,” she told us. Her top concern: The overturning of Roe v. Wade and the future of women’s reproductive rights. “I came to this country thinking I had a second opportunity,” Cassidy, who is Costa Rican-American, said. “And just in a second, the dream was over, because now they’re taking one of my most essential rights away.”
Special thanks to the League of Women Voters in the City of New York.
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On November 6, 2016, I woke up at 5am and headed to a San Francisco museum, preparing myself for a 12-hour shift as a poll worker. I spent the day witnessing democracy in action.
Since the 2000 Presidential Election, I have been anxiously waiting to get the opportunity to vote. I went as far as creating a mock election ballot for my elementary school for the 2004 Presidential Election to feel like I was contributing to the election in some way. The 2008 election was the most frustrating for me; I was four months too young to be eligible to vote in California. I knew I would have to wait another four years.
On Tuesday, May 21, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and several local museums nationwide hosted the annual National Youth Summit, this year focusing on the forthcoming 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.