Mami Masoka

I would definitely say honesty, communication, and teamwork - the three qualities that are essential when working with a group. But most importantly, I attribute my success to being passionate about bringing other youth to the type of work that I do. A lot of people really look down on voting, thinking 'what's it gonna do? This candidate is just gonna win anyway. What's the point of wasting my time to go out there and vote?' But some elections have been decided by just the votes of three people, or one, or just a very small number of people. They don't know that maybe their one vote could go ahead and change the course of that election when they think it couldn't be possible. That passion for helping young people understand the power of their voice is what drives my success.

The best career advice that I have received is to just try. Even when you feel like you have no chance at something, or whatever you're going to do is not going to succeed, it's honestly just trying - you don't know what you might end up achieving when you just try. A lot of people just get dissuaded from doing something because they think they're not good enough, but they don't know that if only they had tried, they don't know what type of greatness they would have just achieved. So my advice is to always keep trying, no matter what.

I'd honestly say to persevere, especially when you're in high school. A lot of people would make fun of you and think you're being dramatic, or there's nothing that you can really do, but it's just persevere, and honestly, believe in whatever you're standing for. Because at the end of the day, it will honestly pay off. You might be doing something that a lot of your fellow classmates may not be able to do, but you're able to do it, and you might be inspiring someone without even knowing it, just by standing in your truth and persevering in whatever you believe in and you're doing.

One of the biggest challenges is actually getting other young people out there to come with you, maybe to door knock or make calls, because they don't really see the importance of it sometimes. Some think 'what's this gonna do anyway?' or that you're weird for going out and knocking on random people's houses and talking to them about voting. So it's having a lot of your peers not really believe in you. Another major challenge is that there's not a lot of organizations in different places, like the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, that cater to young leaders in their state or in their community and give them a space to grow. There's not a lot of that right now, so a lot of students don't have those types of opportunities.

The first value that's most important to me would definitely be honesty. It's something that's really essential to every team when we're working, because without it, almost everything will fall apart and crumble. When you have a team that's really honest with you, it goes such a long way and makes everything easier for whatever goal you're working toward. Communication is also crucial - we can have all the honesty in the world, but if we're not actively working together and having that teamwork mentality, then it's really not going to work. Teamwork has to be the biggest one, because you really need it, especially when working with a group.