Did you know that most millennials know what the name of Kim Kardashian’s child is, but cannot name the Secretary of State of the United States? Unfortunately, this is the case with our generation. I found this out first hand in my Introduction to Politics class under my professor Dr. Kahn. During one of our first class sessions, she had each student take out a piece of paper and fold it down the middle. On both sides of the paper she had everyone number each side from one to ten. The first side was dedicated to questions about popular culture. The second side was for questions related to politics. After completing the exercise most students could answer correctly at least seven questions related to popular culture. Then the most interesting result of the exercise was revealed. Most students could not answer up to three questions correctly when it came to the topic of politics. This was an eye opener and I immediately gained interest in joining the Farmingdale State team for the Up to Us competition.

The Farmingdale State team was inspired to reach students on campus knowing how many students had limited knowledge with regard to the national debt. So we took time during My Two Cents Day and our I-Pad raffle to ask students how much they believed the national debt was currently. We received many interesting answers. 1 million? 50 million? 2 billion? 50 billion? 1 trillion? As each student guessed the amount of the debt there was little to no confidence in their answers. You could hear it in their voices as they pondered what the amount was. Then we would answer by telling them it was 18 trillion dollars and projected to rise in future years. The shock and disgust on some students’ faces were telling. They really did not know how bad the situation was and it truly bothered them.

After months of careful planning, our inspiration to educate our fellow students on this important issue paid off. During our two events, we were able to engage in conversation with over 200 students in person. We also engaged with many other students through social media and the internet. It was great seeing students genuinely care about the debt when speaking with them and I truly believe this issue will be on their radar moving forward. While reaching a few hundred students would be considered a small step by most, it is important to remember it is still a step in the right direction. These students are now asking themselves questions they never considered. How will this affect my future? When will this debt be repaid? Will it be repaid? All important questions and I am happy my team helped make this possible. Also, for all those wondering, the Secretary of State is John Kerry!