By Lauren French for The Spectator
For UW-Eau Claire sophomore Erin O’Brien, chair of the UW-Eau Claire College Republicans, political education began at a young age. O’Brien said she first started caring about politics and activism in sixth or seventh grade, and started working on campaigns when she was a junior in high school.
“You get that feeling in the pit of your stomach, and you just kind of know that’s a passion you have,” O’Brien said. “It’s been that way since I was little.”
When it comes to political participation the millennial generation is often seen as lazy and unmotivated. Overall, some of that perception bears truth – U.S. Census data from the November 2014 general elections revealed only about 20 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds cast ballots.
However, O’Brien and some of her peers are combatting stereotypes and jumping head first into the political world.
O’Brien is currently the campus director for the Aim to Win Initiative, and focuses her energy on identifying and reaching out to potential party voters. She said one of the biggest rewards is seeing the effects her work has in the real world. “If in 2016 a Republican were elected,” O’Brien said, “I would have played a direct role in that.”
Read more at spectatornews.com.