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I wanted to share my personal story of how I came to support Barack Obama… my hope is that someone might read this who feels like I did and decide to support Obama too!

First I should mention that I was raised in a strict Southern Baptist home with conservative political views. I was also homeschooled, so my view of the world was very narrow-minded and judgmental. Some members of my family are racist, whether they know it or not. If you’ve seen the incredible documentary Jesus Camp — that was pretty much my childhood. Anyway, I went to public school (in Clever, Missouri) when I started high school. It was a HUGE change that was very hard for me to overcome. I was very shy through my freshman and sophomore years and didn’t start making a lot of friends until my junior and senior years. I was very involved with my church youth group throughout high school, and honestly it’s probably the only thing that got me through. Not because of the religion, but because of my friends there and also being around positive people. Not all Christians are like the ones in Jesus Camp. I began questioning my beliefs in high school, but it wasn’t until college that I realized I didn’t believe all the things I was brought up to believe. I knew deep in my heart that I was a liberal, but my childhood had left this heavy fear and guilt for going outside the boundaries of my Christian beliefs…

In 2003 I graduated high school, moved out of my parent’s house, and started college at Missouri State University. This opened my mind to all sorts of new ideas and new people. I began listening to liberal politicians to hear what they had to say, and never before had I felt so inspired. I was shocked that all the feelings that I was trying my best to block out were actually what Democrats stood up for! My good friend Erin Dooley helped me “see the light” and she still makes fun of me saying “remember when you used to be a Republican?” It was her personal efforts that got me to open my mind, and I can only hope to be that same inspiration for someone else.

In 2004 I voted for John Kerry. There were things I didn’t like about him, but I knew that Bush would only drive this country further into the ground. I was so excited about an election for the first time in my life. I watched C-SPAN religiously and watched nearly every speech given at the Democratic National Convention.

This was not an easy thing to do, as my family was not at all happy that I had voted for an EVIL DEMOCRAT. I remember Thanksgiving of 2004 being particularly annoying. Bush had just won his second term and my entire family was gloating about it and bashing Kerry and Democrats and I decided to speak up and say I had voted for Kerry. The room fell quiet and everyone looked at me like I had just shot Grandma or something. “WHY DID YOU VOTE FOR KERRY?!??!” I tried to explain my reasoning but anytime I mentioned being against the war or something, it ended with them questioning my patriotism. So I gave up my argument, ate a piece of pumpkin pie, and left.

On July 27, 2004, a Democrat from Chicago gave a speech during the Democratic National Convention. This man inspired me more than anyone else had in my life. He was young. He was black. And he wanted change too. His name was Barack Obama. As soon as he finished his speech, I wanted him to run for president. I put up his speech on my blog and told all my friends about it. This guy was incredible! People started speculating that he might run for president in 2008, but a lot of people thought he was just too young and inexperienced. Even Obama himself said he would not seek the presidency in 2008. Thank god he changed his mind!!

I’m proud to say that I am an Obama supporter and I have been more involved in this election than any other. A great majority of people my age are apathetic about politics, but I’m doing everything I can to get my friends to start thinking about the future of their own lives, this country, and the world.