PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Samyah Smalley and Sofia Cavicchia are both 17-year-old students at Central High School. While they're not old enough to vote, the two are stepping up to play their part in the upcoming election.
For the past few weekends, Smalley and Cavicchia have been traveling to a different Philadelphia spot (usually a ShopRite) to talk to people and get them to register to vote.
"Even though we're not eligible to vote, even though we can't vote, that doesn't mean we can't push other people to vote and make that change on that end," Cavicchia said.
Smalley and Cavicchia are student ambassadors for When Philly Votes, which is a part of the larger initiatives My School Votes and When We All Vote.
As student ambassadors, their goal is to register young voters, many of whom are just reaching the legal voting age of 18.
"I wanted to change the culture of voting. A lot of young people don't get involved in things like this, so I wanted to get involved and tell other young people this is something they can get involved in too," Cavicchia said.
"I am so mad that I cannot vote right now. There are so many things that I think about and care about, that stress me out, and I'm like, I can't vote but I can do this," Smalley said.
The teens say they've registered hundreds of voters in the past couple of weeks.
They're proud of that feat, but they also can't wait to one day cast their own ballots and make their voices heard.
"Sometimes we get people who might not want to register even though they're eligible. I basically tell them, vote for me, vote for people who are not eligible yet. You guys have that right and responsibility," Cavicchia said.
Cavicchia is from a family of immigrants, many of whom she said are not eligible to vote in this election, and believes that no matter what issues people care about, all roads lead to the ballot box — or machine.
"Police brutality, social injustice, education funding, everything leads to the importance of voting. I can't wait until I can officially register and use that voice and also be the voice of my family who can't vote yet," Cavicchia said.
Smalley has similar sentiments.
"There's protesting, activism, sometimes people try to cast voting aside for certain reasons. They don't believe it's going to change anything. It's a system. We might not see it in the immediate effect. But they all contribute to us being active and making our voices be heard," she said.
Smalley says the major issues that resonate with her are the lack of civic education and the systematic inequalities responsible for those disparities — issues that she has observed in her own community.
"If no one is telling you about your rights and what responsibilities and power you have, you're not going to care. It's not something you judge people for, but it makes you wonder why it's set up that certain people are set up not to care. If they don't care they're not going to participate in the system," she said.
Smalley and Cavicchia say their efforts are a lot of work, especially with their school workload, but it has been beneficial to them.
"I'm proud of my commitment to it. It's a lot of work sometimes. Some people would see it as it's not really many benefits if you're not getting paid," Smalley said.
She said the job has helped her become more outgoing, courageous, and better at communicating with people from all different walks of life. Cavicchia said she's enjoyed meeting people all over Philadelphia and the country.
"We have different reasons for joining but we all have the same goal," she said.
