Volunteer Voices: Alejandro Fernandez

Alejandro traveled with Team North Carolina on their primary trip in March 2024

Volunteering with Common Power has really been an experience that I will never forget. It was something that has now set the standard of what political education should be and how to build a strong community of leaders all working towards one goal. 

I just recently got involved in Common Power because I was looking for a way to be more involved in the world around me and I was searching for different avenues to give back to communities. I was referred by a friend to come and check out Common Power, which led me to volunteer with them in North Carolina. 

Leading up to the trip, Common Power did a great job with communicating all the information I needed, flights, hotel, etc. I also did some of the training sessions with them which helped in understanding what I was going to do once I landed in NC. After we landed, the Team Leads made sure we had everything we needed to be successful on the ground. They also had scheduled meetings with their partner organization, which I thought was wonderful because it educated us on certain issues happening there locally.  

The door knocking was also a great experience, it was wonderful to have one on one conversations with people and to understand what they were looking for in their political leaders. One of my most meaningful interactions was when I went up to a door and spoke to a person about the issues that he was most concerned with. He went on to explain how he likes to wait until election day, instead of early voting, because the candidates will usually stop by the polls to greet their constituents. He even said he was planning on taking their granddaughter so she could see how it all works and prepare her for it when it's her turn. That made quite the impact on me, because nowadays it's harder to get the younger generations out to the polls, but there are still people who are still educating the youth on the voting system. 

Overall I enjoyed my first trip with Common Power and I hope to be able to make a few more trips leading up to the election. I also hope to be a part of other aspects and community events the more they happen.