My First Voting Experience - Straight Talk from MAD Winter'13
The following is the Straight Talk article from the Winter 2013 Making a Difference magazine.
My First Voting Experience
By Jenna Quigley
This year was my first time voting – and it was in the presidential election. Let me tell you a little about myself. I am Jenna Quigley. I am 19-years-old and a senior at Tucker High School and I want to tell you about my voting experience. At school, on Channel One News, I listened to the news broadcasters talk about the presidential election. They talked about both candidates and how they felt about things that matter to them and our country. I also watched the debates with my dad.
This was not my first time at the polls. I have gone with my parents a lot of times over the years when they voted. This time was different because I was going to cast my own ballot! In order to prepare for this, my mother went online to the Secretary of State's Office website and printed off DeKalb County's sample ballot so I could practice. I filled it out at home, so I could bring it with me in case I got too nervous when it was time to vote for real.
On the day we went to vote, I was excited and nervous. I brought my State ID and my completed "draft ballot" with me. My dad had already voted early, so I went to vote with my mom. We decided to do early voting hoping we would avoid a very long wait, but we still had to wait in line with a lot of other people. The poll workers gave us some paperwork to fill out while we were in line and I could fill it out by myself because I practiced almost every day at school.
After we filled out the paperwork and showed the poll worker our IDs, they checked us in. One of the workers asked me if it was my first time voting. I told her it was. She let me vote in a booth right next to my mom in case I had any questions, but I didn't.
After I voted, I put on my "I'm a Georgia Voter" sticker! Then when we were leaving, the poll worker made sure there was a big announcement to everyone still waiting in line that I was a first time voter. One of the workers even rang a pretend bell – saying, "Ding, Ding, Ding, first time voter" and pointed to me! I felt great. Everyone cheered for me as I left the building.
I will definitely vote again!
About Jenna Quigley
Jenna Quigley has a business with her best friend, Donna
Williams. They make greeting cards and sell them at conferences and online. She loves to sing, dance and perform. She has been in two productions with the Habima Theatre: Happy Days and Guys and Dolls. This year she will also be in a production of Grease. Someday she hopes to get a dance and music scholarship so she can be on stage and sing and perform in front of a big audience and have a solo.
To check out Jenna's business, visit www.justforyoucardart.com and become a friend on Facebook: Justforyoucardcart!
