“Never get in a car with a stranger.”

I’m sure this is a phrase that many of you have heard from your parents growing up. For much of my life, I listened to my mom when she said this. This was the case until Saturday, April 9, 2016.

I RSVP’ed to Canvas for Bernie 10 days ahead of the New York primary. I didn’t really know what to expect. The only thing that I did know was that I would meet some amazing people who believed many of the same things that I believed. I honestly, didn’t even know what it meant to canvas. I just knew I wanted to do whatever I could to help Bernie win. I had been donating and phone banking, but I wanted to do something more. So I decided to give canvassing a try. That morning, I woke up early (10 am… not really early, but that’s early for me on a Saturday.) I got ready and quickly headed out for the event which began at 11am.

When I arrived at the Bernie canvassing headquarters, there were over 200 people ready to go out and make a difference. I met people who came from all parts of the country to support this movement. I met a guy who had been following Sanders since he began his campaign and had traveled state to state to get people to come out and vote. I met a family who drove from Pennsylvania to canvas in New York. I met a family who ended up being my canvassing partners, who drove in from California. There were many New Yorkers at the event, but there was a shocking amount people that came out from other states. I got to talk to so many amazing people from all over the country in that brief time, people who I would have otherwise never met.

After about 30 minutes of chatting and getting to meet other supporters, the host of the event gave instructions and then we partnered up with whoever we wanted to partner with. I partnered with a family from California. It was a husband, a wife and two young boys. I also teamed up with an 18 year old girl named Jalicia. She was a registered independent, unable to vote in the upcoming primary. She actually lived right across the street from the canvassing headquarters. We were then given our routes and the doors we would knock on. Our route was pretty far from the headquarters so I thought we were taking the bus to our canvassing location.

When we got outside I told the family from California about the buses we could take to get to our canvassing site. They said “No we have a car, jump in!” Instantly, alarms went off in my head. I thought “These people are strangers. My mom told me to NEVER get in the car with strangers. I see on the news and in movies all the time about what happens to people that get a car with strangers. “ These thoughts raced through my mind as I approached their car.

Right before they opened the car door, I was able to put my mind at ease. I thought, “They have two kids, no way would they try something crazy and they are Bernie supporters. I have to assume they are good, moral people”. I got in the car and my mind was somewhat at ease. Jalicia got in the car with no hesitation. She seemed fine to me. That didn’t unsettle me any but it didn’t add to my anxiety. As the husband began to drive, they told me what got them to support Bernie, what they believed in,and how passionate they were about change. I became even more inspired by the conversation we had.

Once we arrived at the canvassing spot, we split up. The family canvassed together while Jalicia and I worked together. As we walked from house to house, knocking on doors and spreading the message to try and get people to come out and vote, she told me about why she supported Sanders and that all of her friends supported Sanders. She told me about her frustrations about being unable to vote in the primaries and since she couldn’t vote in the primaries, she would not vote in the general election unless Bernie won the democratic nomination. It is a sentiment shared by many Sanders supporters.

On our trail, many people weren’t home; it was a nice sunny Saturday so many people went out to have some fun in the sun. Some of the doors we knocked on people just did not want to talk to us. Some people were Hillary supporters and were voting for Hillary-- which was a bummer. We met Sanders supporters who were awesome and we met people who were on the fence between the two candidates or leaning Hillary. Speaking to the people who were on the fence made my day. Jalicia and I were able to convince six people who were leaning Hillary to vote for Sanders. We felt great that we were able to change the minds of a few voters. After about three hours of canvassing, we walked back to the car and met up with the family that drove us there. We spoke about our experience and what happened during our time canvassing and the great time we had.

As we re-entered the car, I thought about my mom telling me never to get in a car with strangers. I began to think “These people aren’t strangers. I may not have met these people prior to canvassing, but there is nothing strange about them.” I was able to connect with them after having a few conversations with them. I felt like I had known these people my entire life. They are great people who shared my views and were advocates for equality and justice. I had an amazing time with them and enjoyed the conversations I had with them.

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Look, I am not advocating for you to EVER jump in the car with strangers or to ever tell your kids to do so. There are people out there WHO ARE CRAZY. If Donald Trump ever offered you a ride PLEASE run and call the police IMMEDIATELY. But if I never got in that car, I wouldn’t have gotten to know such great people. Again, I’m not pushing for you to allow this, what I am pushing for is for you to go out and canvas this weekend so Bernie can win California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota on June 7^th. Let’s keep the momentum going. Mom, I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad I got in a car with strangers. I’m fine. I love you. :)

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed my experience with Canvassing for Bernie. Please go on your social media account and use the hashtag #Canvas4Bernie to let me know your experience. For more, follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Again, thank you for the support.