As part of a continuing series, we're following Obama Organizing Fellows as they share their stories and their experiences. They discuss the people they meet, the hardships of organizing, what the campaign means to them, and how this summer is changing their perspective.
Laura is an Organizing Fellow in St. Louis, Missouri. Her stories appear each Tuesday.
At the beginning of my fellowship, it was hard to find the balance between individual goals and team goals. I had a hard time understanding what the point of my team was, as the majority of my job was making phone calls and meeting with the residents of St. Louis on an individual basis. This weekend, however, after doing three voter-registration drives in a row, the team's purpose became clear to me--we are there to remind each other that we are not alone. That might sound dramatic. How hard can it be to stand outside and register voters? How difficult could it be to wander around a lovely art festival (like the one we were at in Maplewood this past weekend), and talk to new voters, who are finally getting the chance to vote? Sounds pretty straight forward, sounds pretty fun, right? Right. But only if you have people there with you, supporting you when they hear an upsetting comment or cheering you on when you get your first new voter registration of the evening. My team is great. We have a leader, Robin, who fills our inboxes with exclamation points and encouragement on a daily basis; she never says no to any request and keeps track of each one of our schedules. We have Emily, from Illinois, who constantly makes us laugh with her witty humor. She collected twelve voter registration forms on her own in two hours at the Maplewood Art Fair and when I joined her, her energy was contagious; I collected five more forms in one hour (the most I have collected in that short amount of time). We have Layla, a High School senior from St. Louis, who argues for what she believes and stands up for herself in a way that I never did at seventeen.We have Tony, an enthusiastic organizer from St. Louis, who kicked off our first organizing meeting and continues to persuade his friends and family (many who are Republican) that Obama is the best candidate for the job. We have Daniel, from California, who has come all the way to Missouri to help us swing this state blue. He is, like most of us, here for many reasons but he feels strongly about reviving an educational system that he has watched crumble in recent years. And then we have Daniel's mother, who is, in my opinion, our seventh team member. She sends Daniel hundreds of buttons and stickers every week and gives us and our volunteers and the energy (and the chum) we need. These are the people that keep me going; these are the people that remind me that we must connect with one another to get anything done. While I often think that I will get more accomplished if I journey out on my own, the truth of the matter is that I end up losing interest that much faster--I become discouraged, frustrated, and tired. I forget why I am there. When I see a teammate standing along side of me, however, I feel encouraged again because I remember that I am not alone.I am honored to be a part of a campaign that takes collaboration and communication so seriously. Not only because I think it is the only way we can actually enact change but also because it is the connections people make with each other that will outlast this campaign and help us form a better country. Though me and my team will end up going separate ways in a couple of weeks, the bonds that we form--in every corner of every state we are in--are going to keep each other motivated and determined to push for a different kind of politics every day, every month, every year.
Check back next week for more from Laura in St. Louis, Missouri, and visit our Flickr page for more of her photos.
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