UMass Dartmouth students discuss millennials and political advocacy

This week I sat down with my fellow Political Science and English double major student Jacob Miller, and talked with him about a book he’s writing tentatively titled: A Field Guide to Volunteerism and Political Engagement.

The book is about getting involved in political advocacy and how in the long run it’s a more effective way to have a voice in what government does. According to him, “Millennials are more disengaged with government and feel that government is a nasty, corrupt organization, and they feel that by volunteering they’re getting more out of it, it’s less judgmental, and they have more of a connection to helping people.” By combining this sentiment of getting involved and advocating for the issues that one believes the government should be responsible for, he argues that a person can be far more effective and efficient in what they accomplish.

In the book Mr. Miller plans to propose ways, or at the very least a framework that individuals can use to effect change in their governments through their advocacy, including everything from the smallest local government up to the federal government itself. And though the book’s focus will be on millennials, (anyone born between around 1982-2000 approx.), Mr. Miller claims that the book will be written in such a way that it can apply to anyone regardless of age.

His overall goal is to complete the book within the next year as a part of his Honor’s Thesis, and according to Mr. Miller he’s already well on his way. With many of the interviews for the book finished and the literature supporting his argument assembled and reviewed he has all the building blocks and all that’s left is to assemble it into a flowing narrative. His biggest obstacle at this point is the great equalizer, time. Not just in making sure the book is done on time, but also making sure that he doesn’t waste what little time he has.

Though, Jacob Miller is not without a powerful advantage in the form of his level of experience and personal knowledge of the field of volunteerism and political engagement. Jacob has been involved as the Student Coordinator for SouthCoast Serves, a partnership of community organizations that meets at least once a month and discusses ways of becoming more involved in the area.

Not to mention that as an intern he assisted state senator Mark Montigny with passing a bill that protected students across the state from being kicked off of MassHealth. As Mr. Miller himself said, “By connecting both my volunteerism work, hearing about the issue in the field, talking to different people, and my ability to engage in politics I was able to see change happen, so I want to propose a way for others to do the same thing.”

“Government is everywhere, you can’t escape it…and I think that if you know how to engage a government correctly, if you know what the issues are and you know what you want to advocate for, you can create a very positive change and that’ll affect every part of your life.” Jacob Miller is a serious student, composing what sounds to be a seriously interesting book, which could potentially impact a person’s life in a positive way. And isn’t that the goal of all good art, to effect change, to affect people in a positive way?

To me at least it is, and I know that when Mr. Miller’s book is finally complete, I’m going to find a copy and read it.