Senior shares pride in voting
Ava Tronson tells her story

Senior Ava Tronson shares her perspective on voting and politics at a storytelling event Sept. 12 at the St. Louis Park Public Library. The theme of the storytelling event was voting.
September 23, 2019
After sharing her knowledge of politics and elections at a voting-themed storytelling event Sept. 12, senior Ava Tronson said speaking your voice is of great importance.
“It’s important to have your voice be heard and to have a stance on issues,” Tronson said. “If you’re not voting, you’re not having your input heard and you don’t really have a right to complain about what’s going on.”
According to Tronson, she enjoyed representing the younger generation’s viewpoint on voting in front of a generally older audience.
“There were a lot of older people and I thought it was important to show a younger perspective (on voting) even if I haven’t actually voted yet,” Tronson said.
Volunteer coordinator of the storytelling event Frank Fredman said he acknowledges that people enjoy sharing their stories and therefore provides different topics for each event.
“I’m a storyteller,” Fredman said. “I love telling stories and I also recognize that other people like telling stories so we’ve had a variety of themes.”
Although she is unable to vote in any elections this year, Tronson said she feels she will be ready to have an impact in the 2020 election.
“I think I’ll be better prepared to vote and I’m more excited to be able to put somebody in office or do my part at least,” Tronson said.
It’s important to have your voice be heard and to have a stance on issues.”
— Ava Tronson
According to Tronson, knowing who you’re voting for is essential if you want to see change aligning with your values.
“It’s really important to be self-aware,” Tronson said. “You have to have your vote be educated because otherwise you don’t know who you’re putting in office and it’s very important that if you have goals you want to see them through.”
Tronson said it’s important to become educated and not take your vote for granted.
“Get educated and look up who you’re going to be voting for and what their stances are,” Tronson said. “Just know so you can really do what you want with your vote because it really is a privilege.”
According to Fredman, the next generation to vote is extremely knowledgeable, but for unfortunate reasons.
“I think the youngest generation about to vote is the most informed young generation ever,” Fredman said. “Unfortunately it’s because of the necessity of all the problems we have in our society and in our environment. I don’t really have any advice, other than vote and get involved.”

Heyo! my name is Ruthie and I’m a senior this year! I’m a copy editor for the Echo which means I check all the grammarly thingys & make sure things...
The Echo intends for this area to be used to foster healthy, thought-provoking discussion. Comments are expected to adhere to our standards and to be respectful and constructive. Furthermore, we do not permit any of the following inappropriate content including: Libel or defamatory statements, any copyrighted, trademarked or intellectual property of others, the use of profanity and foul language or personal attacks. All comments are reviewed and approved by staff to ensure that they meet these standards. The Echo does not allow anonymous comments, and requires a name and valid email address submitted that are variable. This email address will not be displayed but will be used to confirm your comments. Online comments that are found in violation of these policies will be removed as quickly as possible. Please direct any further questions to [email protected]
If you want a picture to show with your comment, go get a gravatar.