Lucky

I have spent my entire life in the South. I was born and raised in a small town in Georgia, attended the University of Georgia, am now attending Vanderbilt University and will be moving back to Georgia in May. Having spent my entire life in the South, I am accustomed to being a minority when it comes to my political beliefs.

A yellow-dog Democrat to my core, most of my friends throughout my life have followed conservative political beliefs. I remember being in elementary school and asking people who they would vote for in the election. In second grade, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up and it took me no time to respond...a State Representative like my Dad. Politics have been a part of my life since before I can remember.

In a generation (previously) considered apathetic, I was one those who, on my 18th birthday, was more excited to be able to vote than any other privilege gained by my age. Before going off to college and then graduate school, I didn't realize quite how lucky I was to have been raised with such a fervor for politics. Not only did my parents instill a desire to participate in my country's political process, but I was also surrounded by a very active, political family.

Most of my family, though not all of them, consider themselves to be dedicated democrats. How lucky am I to have a family that can discuss politics without letting it damage relationships? How amazing is it that in a large southern family, there is a range of political beliefs and we are all quite passionate about those beliefs?

As mentioned in previous posts, some of our family members have told us how crazy we are to be taking on D.C. for the inauguration. For me, and many of the other women on this trip, there was no other choice. Though I am 200% sure that Barack Obama will not know or truly care that I am there surrounded by my amazing cousins, I am even more sure that there is no place I would rather be on January 20...in Washington, D.C., watching Hope and Change being confirmed into the office of the Presidency, surrounded by some of my favorite people on the face of this earth. Lucky is definitely a word I would use to describe me.

~Pallie