Victor’s Thoughts: Post #5 — Becoming a Delegate

I sat in my living room, staring in awe at my TV as Andrea Day, Katy Perry, trailblazing Senators, and Hillary Clinton appeared over the course of the 2016 DNC Convention. The camaraderie that filled the arena with people from all walks of life cheering, balloons colored red, white, and blue falling from the convention center ceiling, and the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman to be elected as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. It felt surreal — and that’s just me watching the DNC Convention on the TV screen. For participants, it must have felt unworldly to be able to find oneself in an arena where so many people can openly gather and celebrate politics.

Being my bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self, I knew I wanted to end up at a political convention — hopefully the DNC Convention — one day. Luckily, 2020 was the year for me to dream big and reach high.

As I quickly discovered from researching how to attend a convention, every four years, both the DNC and RNC hold conventions typically in arenas with capacities of over ten thousand. These conventions, however, are not for everyone, though — literally. Only the the media, volunteers at the DNC, campaign surrogates, elected officials from around the country, and elected delegates join forces to elect their party’s respective nominee. Most who…