Building Brownsville Next Vote

The summer before my junior year did not look like most teens'. While most people spent those months relaxing or traveling, my friends and I were busy building something we felt our city desperately needed: Brownsville Next Vote, a youth-led civic engagement initiative created to empower young people in South Texas. We were tired of hearing that teens didn't care about politics or weren't ready to be civically engaged.

What the situation called for wasn't a lack of interest but rather a lack of tools, opportunities, and information. And so, we took it upon ourselves to create those resources for our community.

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A Goal Bigger Than Voting

From the outset, one of our biggest goals was to get teens involved in the election process—not just as future voters but as active participants. We wanted to understand how elections worked from the inside and show our city that young people are completely capable of contributing meaningfully.

That opportunity came in November 2025 when I applied to work as a student election clerk during the Texas Constitutional Amendment Election. I didn't fully realize it then, but that decision would shape everything I believed about youth involvement in politics.

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Stepping Into Election Day

Election Day started early, long before the sun came up. Walking into the polling location, I felt a mix of nerves, excitement, and curiosity. Everyone around me was older, most of them seasoned election workers who had done this for years.

Yet from the second I checked in, I felt like I belonged. Throughout the day, I greeted voters, assisted with check-in procedures, and helped people use the voting machines. Many were saying how refreshing it was to see a young person working the election. Others were in genuine surprise that a 17-year-old was trusted with responsibilities that are integral to democracy.

That reaction made something very clear to me: involvement of the youth is still rare, not because we aren't capable, but because teens often don't know these opportunities exist.

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Bringing Knowledge Back to the Community

After Election Day, everything we were building through Brownsville Next Vote took on new meaning. Our work no longer felt like it was just an idea—it's a necessity to strengthen our community. We had already been making bilingual content, educational videos, and accessible explanations to help young people understand voting, candidates, and issues.

Our ongoing projects, like Brownsville Voices and Meet Your Representatives, made civic education a little less intimidating and a little more relatable. But watching so many voters either confused about the ballot or completely unaware of the amendments, I realized just how important this mission truly is. Civic education shouldn't start at eighteen; it should start much earlier and in ways that meet teens where they are.

Why Local Politics Matters

I think one of the biggest things that stuck with me after Election Day was just how so many young people really only focus on national politics because it's what's always on social media and what the headlines are about in the news.

What I saw firsthand, though, was how much more relevant local politics actually are to daily life. Local elections determine school funding, public transportation, community programs, and neighborhood resources. Those things affect teens right now, yet local voter turnout is always low—particularly among youth. Working the election really made me appreciate the need for us to be involved at the city level, not just every four years.

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Gen Z’s Strength and Voice

Despite what people often say, Gen Z is not disconnected or apathetic. We are bilingual communicators, creative thinkers, and organizers who understand the power of social media and community collaboration. We care about issues that affect our families and our future, and we are not afraid to demand better.

The experience of working the 2025 election did more than teach me about voting systems; it taught me about who we are as a generation. We are thoughtful, informed, and ready to lead. Being a student election clerk hadn't ended with the closing of the polling place.

Instead, it fueled further purpose: it confirmed that Brownsville Next Vote was not just a school project or a social media page but a movement with real potential in empowering teens across our city. It reminded me that change doesn't happen by waiting for adulthood. It starts when young people decide to get involved, educate others, and refuse to stay silent. Gen Z isn’t just the future of change. We are the present, and we already are shaping what comes next.