HILLARY: AN INTRODUCTION INTO POLITICS
It was over a family dinner where my dad, a staunch Republican, and my mom, a die hard Democrat, went head to head over President Clinton and the role the First Lady was playing in healthcare for all. When I asked what it all meant my mom patiently explained this was her project- the first time a First Lady would help the country by not just planting a garden but by actually helping sick people get help. She was being trusted by the President to do something no one had ever been trusted to do before-a woman. That meant people knew she was smart, capable, and a doer- everything my parents told me I was.

It was at that very moment that Hillary Clinton stole a piece of my heart. A girl who was proving everyone wrong who said she couldn't do it. Be still my heart, she sounded like the tom boy I was myself and I loved that I could see myself in someone who was so smart and tough.

So it was without question when she decided to run for President in 2008 that I threw myself into her campaign with University Democrats but also with El Paso for Hillary. It was there that I met my campaign guru and mentor Javier Aaron Paz (who I have worked on over 10 campaigns over the past 12 years). During that campaign I had the chance to meet Hillary, President Clinton and Chelsea. When she dropped out to make way for President Obama whose numbers were undeniably rising, I took the loss in stride, took some time, and listened to Hillary's advice- I did what all good Democrats were to do and began campaigning for the new nominee. I not only jumped into the Obama campaign but signed up online and applied to be an Obama Fellow- the first one here in El Paso, doing so because I believed in party first but also because I wanted to put Hillary's words into action.

Hillary announced that once more she would be seeking the office of the President, my mom and I watched with tears in our eyes and swore that we would devote all we had to this. I was now 29, had worked over 8 plus campaigns, and was ready to utilize all the gained knowledge I had to make sure I did as much as I could to make this campaign a success. Javier and I organized it with me being his Vice Chair of Hillary for El Paso. I was in charge of design aesthetic, resigning money for our campaign by making specially designed shirts and buttons. We had the great pleasure of welcoming and giving shirts to President Clinton and Secretary Ken Salazar who both came to town to campaign for her. We were able to purchase a larger campaign space to fit all of our volunteers, we cut turf to ensure we were covering all of the city with our block walkers, and Hillary steadily carried Texas over Bernie. After the Democratic Convention it was definitive: Hillary was out Democratic candidate. Then came November 2 and what looked to be promising suddenly lost steam. I remember tears welling up steadily as suddenly areas that once had looked so promising began to turn red instead of blue. Faces at the Clinton party suddenly grew stern and saddened. By 11 pm I remember thinking this was ending in a very different way then i had initially thought. It was a stern wake-up call but an essential life lesson- we had overshot, we had assumed we were safe, we had thought something was in the bag when in reality it showed us we were highly out of touch with America. It was a painful lesson, especially being a leader in that campaign. But the silver lining that took a lot of time to uncover was that as unpredictable as it all seemed, communication that goes beyond a two sentence question on a phone is essential. You may want that win, but you cannot forget that human aspect because politics- anything in government- is all about the human connection.

BETO’S CAMPAIGN: IF HE CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT
During late March 2017 El Paso was a buzz with the news that their Native Son, Beto O’Rourke, was challenging Senator Ted Cruz for the Texas’s notoriously Republican hard earned Senate seat. So when the news had spread that our very own Congressman, one who the students had met years in a row without one year skipped, one who took endless selfies with them and who shook each of their tiny hands to thank them for bringing in just one canned good for those more needy them themselves, the school was full with excitement. In my classroom I allowed my students to watch the Facebook Live-stream announcement so they could see history in the making- regardless of the outcome this was the first time an El Pasoan was seeking a national Senate seat. And it would be the first time in my students lives that someone they met, had seen in person and shook hands with, would be taking on the establishment, challenging the expected and would be doing it knowing the odds would be stacked against him. The message here wasn’t so much “now we support him” as much as “look what someone from El Paso, someone who people think is the underdog, someone who went to schools here, can do.” The students asked if they could write him a good luck letter and draw a picture. The students asked if I could make sure that the letters and pictures would be delivered directly to Beto, and if you could see the hard work they put into it you would understand why I did so with such hard work and intent. I called each and every person I knew around him and nailed him down for a meeting (no easy feat) and presented to him 32 thoughtfully written letters (done in three drafts in the neatest handwriting they could muster) and with pictures that would melt your heart. I remember Beto calling attention to one in particular that had a piece of hair sticking up saying it looked just like him. It was done by my student Jose, he wanted to be an artist and he came in early and stayed late to work on his masterpiece. The next month I received a call from campaign headquarters for Beto for Senate asking me for Jose’s home contact information, Beto had chosen that particular drawing to be a design for his Senate campaign. Jose, a third grader at the time, was to have his dream come true at the age of 9- he was going to be a published artist for a major political campaign. Beto sent him a phone message, thanking him for his “amazing and talented work” and asked if he would do more work for him one day. Jose cried the day I showed him the video and said that if someone like Beto believed in him maybe he could be something important one day. My heart exploded that day- someone who we value telling us what we know deep down- that we are something, that we can be something- sometimes we just NEED to hear it. Once the shirts were printed I wore mine the next day at school. I called Jose out of class and as soon as he saw me in his work he cried, I tossed him his shirt so he could put his own on and hugged him and congratulated him. His dream at the age of 9 was a reality, he had done it, he had become an artist and now he had to set higher goals for himself. Now he also has a signed piece of his artwork framed and forever enshrined by one of his heroes, Beto, and maybe that will push him throughout his life to always strive for his dreams.