‘Almost everybody I know is an immigrant or a product of immigration, so it’s hard to talk about.’

Zaira Solorio-Lopez, 21, is a third-year student at UW-Milwaukee, majoring in Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies. Lopez was feeling overwhelmed about the upcoming election but realized how important it is for her to inform herself and go out to vote.

Irasema Muñoz: Do you plan to vote in the upcoming midterms?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: I wasn’t planning on voting this time around because I haven’t voted in a while. I wasn’t thinking about it until you brought this interview up. I realized how important and impactful voting is, it has the power to influence policies. So yes, I am planning to vote now.

Irasema Muñoz: What are some of the issues that are motivating you to go vote and inform yourself?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: You see issues and injustices every single day and I feel like that’s always in the back of my mind, especially as a woman and a person of color. Like just the other day, I heard about the Oregon school shooting that just happened so it’s things like that that motivate me to vote. There are so many injustices and there’s change that needs to happen.

Irasema Muñoz: I know you kind of touched on this a little but, would you consider yourself someone interested in politics or not? And if not, why?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: Truthfully, I’m not super interested in politics, Although, I do know that it’s important and politics can affect our daily lives. I think the reason is just because I focus a lot more on school, my social life and work. Politics takes a lot of investigation and that’s something that I don’t go ahead and research on my own time because I’m always so busy.

Irasema Muñoz: How are you feeling about the upcoming midterms? Is it going to be a drastic change for you depending on who wins?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: I feel a little overwhelmed because everything always has an impact. It’s just overwhelming because you don’t know what the outcome will be.

Irasema Muñoz: What are your opinions on politics on campus? Do you feel like other students around you mention them? Do you feel like everybody is informed or have you noticed that people don’t really talk about it?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: I think our generation is more informed about it and it’s less taboo and less scary to talk about politics. I think because our generation is a little bit more liberal, it makes it easier to talk about. I’m not sure if people bring it up in everyday conversation, but I feel like there’s a middle ground.

Irasema Muñoz: You mentioned earlier about policies and being a person of color. Is there anything that seems important to you when it comes to voting that relates to that?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: I feel like this is always a hard conversation to have, but it’s one that we have to have as people of color when it comes to immigration and ICE and things like that. I feel like it’s scary because it’s so personal to me. But that’s something that I’m deeply passionate about because almost everybody I know is an immigrant or a product of immigration, so it’s hard to talk about.

Irasema Muñoz: Now that you feel more informed about the midterms and you feel more ready to vote, will you be encouraging your friends to vote?

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: I feel like we don’t talk about it often, but it’s not something that doesn’t come up at all. In the past I have encouraged people to vote, and people have encouraged me as well. I think it’s important for Gen Z to vote because regardless of what party you are it’s important to have a voice.

Irasema Muñoz: Would you say that you care more about the issues when it comes to voting or do you care more about being loyal to a certain party.

Zaira Solorio-Lopez: I feel like I’m going to sound a little informal, but I feel like you can’t be so loyal to a party, at least for me because I’m not super well informed. I know the gist of both parties, but I don’t know the parties super well. I think issues are something that catches my attention. When I see issues rise, I know that that’s something that I’m passionate about or something that motivates me to vote for.