Oregon for Dean campaign

During the summer on 2003, I became involved in the Oregon for Dean campaign. Since I had lived in a rural town in Texas, involvement in a presidential campaign previously had meant putting out signs. This was my first time to be involved in a presidential campaign in a larger effort.

In Oregon, I quickly became involved with the Multnomah County Democrats. It took me a couple months to locate the Party, as they weren't easy to find. Finally , I was able to get in touch with Democratic Party of Oregon Executive Director Neel Pender who helped me get involved with the county party. In December, 2000 I attended my first meeting.

Because of the difficulty I experienced in finding the county party, I immediately began work on a website, which has been responsible for hundreds of volunteers locating the Party.

In 1996, I attended my first precinct caucus, where I was elected secretary. At the county convention I was selected as an alternate for the Texas State Democratic Convention, but was bumped up to full delegate upon arrival. I was the youngest delegate there from her Congressional district.

I spent much of my time in sessions related to youth and politics. Unfortunately, there were more questions than answers raised in the sessions.

During this same time, my family received much backlash from people in the community. Students in my classes, including children of school administrators, were allowed to openly bash me in class. My sisters were harassed in school, sometimes even pushed against lockers. My father, a self-employed contractor, saw a drop in his business. We even had to ge caller id because of the number of threats we received.

A project spurred by Channel One led to me taking on her entire English class in a Presidential debate. I was the only student in my class to support Clinton, which didn't bother me in the least. This wasn't surprising, as I had been debating school board members, often monthly, on issues since I was 12.

Channel One had announced plans to hold a poll across the country regarding who students would vote for President. Our school decided to expand the idea, adding a research project and debate to the poll.

Ever since I was young, I was the one to speak out on things that didn't seem right.

When I was quite young, that personality trait typically showed itself in my writings at school. While my mother volunteered at the local schools, we were not that involved with the workings in town. Much of that was because we lived in an unincorporated area of the city and therefore didn't have much say in the workings of the town.

Ever since visiting for the first time in 1998, I've loved Oregon. In 2000 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to move from Texas to Oregon.

One of my favorite things about the state was the way people treated each other and the environment. Oregon protected its forests, its streams, its animals, and its beaches. Here no one could own a beach-- they belonged to the people of Oregon. This was unlike Texas where many of the nicer beaches were owned by private individuals.