“Having that student community be aware of issues and communicate about them really pushed me to do more research and be more active and want to vote”. These are the words of recent Judge graduate Sam Cowan, who credits the student community at Judge as a major factor that encouraged him to make sure his voice was heard through voting.

Cowan is part of the most recent generation of voters who soon after graduating high school were faced with one of the most polarizing and anticipated presidential elections in American history. Many races for lower political offices this year have also been hugely influential in determining the future of the country.

With that in mind, Cowan said that his biggest motivation for voting is “making sure that we have the right people in power, leading our country.” He mentioned that the issue he cares about the most and that determines how he votes is climate change. At Cal Poly, Sam is an environmental management and protection major. This allows him to make an impact in protecting the environment and limiting the effects of climate change, and he wants to see leaders who are willing to take similar actions in office.

When asked about the views of the most recent generation of voters on the whole, Cowan said that within the communities he is part of people are generally more left leaning. “There’s this sense of equality that I feel most people in my generation and recent generations have that is more exemplified by the left side than it is the right”, Cowan said.

Cowan also had some important insight into the process of registering to vote. He said that overall it was “surprisingly easy” and that when he did need clarification his parents were there to help. The big takeaway from this for the next generation of voters is that there’s no reason not to register and make your voice heard. It’s not a hard process and family members who are already voters would probably be willing to help.