RGBP Friday Five: Civic Duties

Friday Five: Civic Duties

It's that season of the year when lawn signs are sprouting as surely as flowers in the spring; elections are just around the corner. And so today we bring you a Civic Duty Friday Five.

1) How old were you when you voted for the first time? I imagine I was 18, but I don't have a clear memory of the event.

2) What was the contest at the top of the ballot? I turned 18 in an off-year, 1987. The next year I voted absentee in the primary and general election for the President since I was out-of-state at college.

3) Can you walk to your polling place? I imagine I could, but there are no sidewalks for part of the way. It would be a bit of a hike, and the road w/o sidewalks is a 35 mph that everyone treats as if it were 45.

4) Have you ever run for public office? No, but my grandmother was on the school board while I was in junior high.

5) Have you run for office in a club or school or on a board? I've always been in on clubs when they just start out, so "running" for office is not really the right word. As an undergraduate, I was Vice President and then President of the Women's Soccer Club in its 3rd and 4th year of existence. As such, I was responsible for creating our schedule, securing transportation, finding a coach (who would volunteer; we had no money), recruiting players, fundraising, uniforms -- you get the picture. These were burdens of "club" status, no varsity standing with the university. As a grad student (the first time) I helped start a student chapter of Habitat for Humanity. I think I was their first secretary. Since then I've been laying low.