Natalia's Reflection  

 

Throughout the process of creating my final Project Citizen project, I have learned a lot about the policy making process and how citizens can play a more active role in our government. Before Project Citizen, I thought that if I wasn’t involved directly in the lawmaking process by being apart of Congress or working in the state and local government, I would not be able to have a large influence in policy change. My parents have always been passionate about voting and raised me in an environment in which I learned about current events and politics even at an early age. Therefore, I have always spoke my mind about government policy, and had big ideas about how to change it. Project citizen has taught me that as an informed citizen, I have the power and ability to make a change in policy, whether it be at the local, state or federal level. It sounds so simple, yet after hours of research I have learned that it is far from it. I had never realized the amount of time and focus that is required to analyze every possible aspect of a problem and every angle for choosing a solution.  Although I have discovered that policy making might not be the career path for me, this project allowed me to gain a lot of respect for the law makers in our government who do this everyday. I am extremely passionate about our abortion policies becoming a reality in NJ, and I hope that our team’s hard work will pay off. Yet, even if NJ doesn’t pass our policy changes, I have learned invaluable information and a priceless lesson that will follow me for the rest of my life.