Got to be True to Myself - My VOTE is my VOICE.

By Meg Heubeck, Director of the Youth Leadership Initiative at the UVA Center for Politics

On my way to work this morning I heard Ziggy Marley’s Got to Be True to Myself.  Its lighthearted melody got my feet moving, and put a smile on my face as I progressed the twenty minutes to my office. I was still singing it to myself as I sat at my desk and began to think about what I wanted to do with my day.  If you haven’t heard the song, you can find the lyrics and here the song here: http://www.songlyrics.com/ziggy-marley/true-to-myself-lyrics/.

I realized that the song is not only catchy, but really carries a message that I want others to understand.  Voting is often an act that we think of in terms of others; an act for our families, friends or communities. To an extent that is true, but voting is really something one should really do for his/her self.

The candidates speak loudly about doing what is best for our nation.  What is best for our nation is for our youth to educate themselves about the issues, discuss those issues with their peers, debate possible solutions, and come to a compromise on steps forward.  We don’t have a lot of that going on right now.  What we have now are sound-bytes, slogans and harsh rhetoric.

Got to be True to Myself is a soft, simple song that carries a positive message for young voters.  It doesn’t shout, it doesn’t condemn, it doesn’t preach. To me- it impels listeners to find in themselves what is important and act on those beliefs. I think our nation will be better off if citizens take this message to heart.  If we vote from what we actually believe and not from what others want us to believe our nation will be better for it.

I don’t know what songs the candidates are using in their campaigns this year.  It doesn’t matter to me. I am going to keep a little Ziggy in my heart and “Be True to Myself” this election season.

About Meg Heubeck
Meg is the current Director of Instruction at the UVA Center for Politics, where she manages the curriculum and programs of the Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI), on our esteemed educational partners for Chase the Race 2016.   Prior to working at UVA Meg was an educator in the Baltimore area.