Recorded from Frostburg, Maryland, 2021.
This snapshot was gathered in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. The full collection of stories is available at www.museumonmainstreet.org.
Jessica Thayer (00:00): My name is Jessica Thayer. I'm a senior studying law philosophy at Frostburg State University. I'm the vice president of the Student Government Association and the founder and president of our university debate team.
Jessica Thayer (00:14): I did vote in the 2020 election. It's been an awesome experience because this was the first time that I've gotten to vote for a presidential candidate. I remember going to the polls and the midterm elections and feeling like my vote mattered, but I think a presidential election obviously carries a lot more weight with it. Being able to exercise a duty that I've looked forward to for so long was really, really awesome.
Jessica Thayer (00:45): I guess my story isn't exactly what you would expect from the first answer I gave. Growing up in Garrett County, Maryland, it's a very rural, conservative, small town. Politics was never really something that I was necessarily encouraged to get into or just not a common topic of conversation. However, once I went to college and I got involved with political science and met some really awesome professors, I realized just how powerful our civic duties really are.
Jessica Thayer (01:18): Just the ability that each of us have, regardless of our socioeconomic status, our race, religion, creed, background, we have this awesome opportunity to vote. I think that's something that once I came to college, I really realized the full impact of, and I knew that, especially in an area like my hometown, how important each and every vote can be.
Asset ID: 2021.03.11.e
