From worldwide protests to the worldwide pandemic, this year is different from what we all expected. As students are going back to school, everything looks different. From wearing masks to having all or most of student classes online, we have begun an era of the new normal. This new normal is going to leave an impact on state and federal elections this 2020 year because it has impacted students' ways of living and has shifted their pursuit of happiness.

This is due to issues like the Black Lives Matter Movement, the handling of COVID 19, no decrease or elimination of tuition or fees, Trump’s Executive Order to attempt to deport international students, a rollercoaster ride to college peers who have DACA statuses, Trump’s administration’s reverse of Title IX and Sexual Assault on college campuses, and the list goes on.

After realizing the circumstances we are in now, Fatma Ulangkaya, a student at ASU came to the conclusion that: 

“A lot of the issues that are being brought up now are a repetition of the past. But instead of them being watered down or brushed off, they are coming out almost exactly how they are played out or have been played out if that makes sense.” 

And that’s why “I think we are more aware of the importance of getting our voices heard and making change,” Oumou Bah, a current graduate student at ASU said.

-Anna Deogratias, ASA's Communications Fellow