Jennifer Pyle started getting involved with the election process since her freshman year in college. Although she claims she started to get involved late, she managed to obtain an internship with the Republican National Committee in her junior year.
With candidate for the U.S. Senate Dan Coats on leading the polls, Pyle said she thinks this is a year of changes around the country.
"There has been a lot of talk about getting the incumbents out and again, even though you want the incumbents out, it's all about you getting the candidate that you want," she said. "We want the incumbents out and see new faces, but you should want them for the right reasons."
While working on Capitol Hill, Pyle would walk past representatives and senators every day on her way to her internship and go through the tunnels between the House and Senate buildings to get lunch.
"I worked on 1st street, which is right across the street from the Capitol, so just working on the hill itself really gets you excited for any future career you plan to have on politics," she said. "You just see people you usually see on the news and that are influencing the way that you live, which is pretty incredible. You just feel like the coolest person alive."
At her internship, Pyle met many more interns, most college-aged.
"There actually was a lot of youth, so it's a place where you really can create ideas and it's a lot of people working for the same thing, but since we're all really young, the environment is nice," she said. "It's not stuffy, it's really motivating and creative, and there's just a lot of opportunity to gain from that."
Brad Polk, chairman of the Delaware County Republican Party, has been involved in politics in the past 10 years. Besides his position in the Republican Party, Polk works as a city council member for the city of Muncie, representing district two.
Polk said the party tries to work closely with College Republicans, and in a couple occasions they have held events together.
"Just like with anyone, if [college students] want to have a say in who the local officials are, you have to [vote]," Polk said. "The people that are elected will impact college students and their futures."
Pyle, a junior public relations major, hopes to build her career around politics because of the importance said she places on the issue. Pyle said she believes it is the duty of all who live in the U.S. to vote or show some level of participation.
"I'm definitely going to vote. I'm going to try to make it my duty to vote on every election until I die," she said. "The way that I prepare is, even though I'm a republican, I still think it's important to gain knowledge of the campaign candidates and research the candidates. That way you can make an informed decision."
Yet, Pyle said she doesn't think many students show enthusiasm because of how involved politics can be.
"The majority of politics that students get comes from the ‘Daily Show' and the ‘Colbert Report'. And they give good information, but that's probably just about the level that students know. The fact that you have to learn more, because politics are really involved," she said. "I know politics can be very involved, but I'm hoping students can read the news a little every day."
After a 2008 election with the highest turnout, Pyle said she hopes Republicans will reach out to college students through a more mobilized campaign. Pyle said she thought the use of social media to reach students was a large part of Barack Obama's campaign.
"It would be great if we could get college students mobilized as well as Obama did, because he ran a phenomenal campaign," she said. "It is really sad how little participation there is between people our age. We don't want all the old people telling us what to do. We don't want them to make decisions for us. If you want something, you get it."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
