Growing up in rural North Carolina, having a different political stance was hard, to say the least. I grew up in a conservative home with my parents and my sister. Whenever I entered high school, I began to explore politics and developed my own views, rather than rely on my parents.
Being a liberal in high school, I was often bombarded with questions from my peers and members of my community. Every time something would happen in the world that was controversial, I would always get asked, "what do you think about it?" The truth is, it made me super anxious since I didn't like discussing my political views because it made me feel so out of place.
When the 2016 Presidential Election came around, I had a teacher that surveyed us on our political views. I didn't answer the questions truthfully because I didn't want her to judge me. When the election results came out, my small rural high school was full of "Make America Great Again" propaganda. We had a class discussion the next day but I kept quiet since I didn't want to discuss my feelings because honestly, it was no one's business. I couldn't vote at the time, but I still had my own opinions.
I attended the Red4Ed rallies and I was told, it wasn't doing anything but causing a disruption. But, we made a DIFFERENCE!
People were always SO SURPRISED to find out that I am a liberal. They would instantly assume I was the worst, the stereotypical Democrat. During class discussions that were politically motivated, it was usually me against the rest of the class. But you know, I learned to deal with it.
I learned how to avoid political topics, I learned how to bite my tongue, I learned how to respectfully disagree, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, I learned to be open-minded.
If you have something that you want to talk about as adults, sure, I am open to listening, but listen to my side too. I have conservative friends and family. I have learned to not indulge in the latest political topics with them. We have respectfully agreed, to disagree.
I am proud to be a liberal, even in a small, southern community.
