I ran across this Bible verse the other day and I was surprised at how much it hit home. I apologize, but a bit of an autobiography is a necessary part of this blog.
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12
I'm 17 years old. Currently I'm working/volunteering/interning on many different facets of political jobs. I have a volunteer position as the Grassroots Leader for Mitt Romney's Presidential Campaign in my county, I'm the youth chair for my county party, I intern for my state rep, I'm working to set up a teen republicans and college republicans in my county. Beyond that, I go to debates, seminars, etc where the average age is around 30 probably. The number of people that just assume I'm older then I am because of my surroundings is pretty spectacular. Beyond that, the number of people that ignore me once they find out my age is disheartening. Then there's the people who kind of ignore me, but as they get to know me realize I really have good ideas and in the end ignore my age.
I get why age has a role in jobs and maturity, etc. I don't understand why people have to immediately discredit something I say because I'm less than half of their age. Beyond some sort of prideful mentality, there doesn't seem to be a logical reason for not at least hearing a young person out on important subjects. I believe this is one of the reasons why college students and young professionals have such an apathetic view of politics and voting, they're not taken seriously.
Honestly, once someone has gotten to know me, they're amazed at the capability and willingness I have to work. I have to work twice as hard as paid employees to get the same kind of credit because they have already proven themselves worthy of a job. A gentleman I know through the County Party recently asked me to run his campaign for county commissioner. It's not much, but it's getting somewhere.
I guess my point is that as the college students and young professionals of today, we need to remember that when we're the old, "smart" people, what it feels like to be the young, "naive" people. I'm not saying in any way that we know everything right now, but we do have ideas and concerns that should be listened to. There's so much untapped potential in the world because the status quo doesn't want to be changed.
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I agree.
Hopefully we can all try to remember our youth...
I know how you feel, everyone thinks I'm older because I'm a few years ahead, I have jobs that are normally taken by older people, etc... and when the find out my age and the surprise factor goes away, they lose their respect for me.
I hate that I get so annoyed with 17, 18, and 19 year olds and I attribute it to their age... I forget that I'm still their age!
If we all work to appreciate people for their talents instead of their age, the world will be a much better place.
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http://progressiveu.org/143541-how-to-survive-the-2008-elections