The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Brooke K. during the 2008-2009 League.
Mission: Take Action - Volunteering for a Political Campaign
We arrived at nine o'clock on a Saturday morning to work for Tim Fair who was running for Clinton County Commissioner. The prospect of getting up before nine was not inviting, but we all made it there on time. After a brief introduction of what we would be doing – door to door handing out literature – and a few Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, we were awake enough to start. Whatever the people in the houses thought about two teenage kids standing outside their door early Saturday morning, wearing Tim Fair badges, we were never certain, but as soon as the door was open, we blasted off on our short lecture about Tim Fair that any person should be proud off. After a few nervous presentations, we were rattling it off and the jitters had subsided. Sure, after speeding through "county commissioner" quite a few times, it might not have come out right on the first try, but I'm sure the people we met got the gist of our message.
The next time we met, we were working for Tim Fair again, but this time sticking small sheets of paper to Tim Fair literature with little stickers that read "Remember to Vote on November 4". It was quite tedious, but we were happy to help. After making eighteen hundred of these little buggers, we were off to go door-to-door again, this time just leaving literature in the doors. We went to apartment buildings and trailer parks – getting our wits scared out of us when someone would open the door while we were trying to stick the flyer under the weather seal, avoiding houses with very large dogs that looked as though they would like a chunk of your leg, and getting followed by tens of cats.
Judgment Day, November 3rd just twenty-four hours before the election, is when we met next. Using the "Remember to Vote on November 4" cards we had previously assembled, we dropped them at hundreds of houses. Sprinting from house to house we covered quite a lot of ground. From nine to one thirty, lunch, two to four forty-five, we worked steady and were either driving to new houses, sprinting to houses, or dropping literature off. The car was filled with laughter, hard breathing, "No, we were suppose to turn right!" or "Did we leave Grace at Turner Road?" In the background was Rush Limbaugh's familiar voice warning us about the elections. We were all happy to help Tim out. He is such a generous person and he was so happy to have us helping out.
Before going door-to-door, I was always annoyed when people came to our door or when people called with political information. But since I did this I have to respect the people who do this. When I went door-to-door or made calls, it was always much more fun when people were nice instead of just closing the door or hanging up. Now whenever someone comes to our door, I listen to what they say instead of brushing them off as unimportant.
