"l’m thinking we just go back to being a normal country."

A Tesoro High sophomore on why she's protesting—and what she fears for America.

Hi Orange County, my name is Mia Quandt. I’m a 15 year old sophomore at Tesoro High School and I am writing to tell you about the reign of Emperor Trump from a high schooler’s perspective.

Teenagers have a collective reputation for being angry, for no reason. Maybe that has been true in the past, but from my perspective, things seem to be pretty out of control. Once you reach your teenage years (If you’re paying attention), you begin to see the mess that is being left for kids my age to deal with. I am here to tell you there is a reason for us to be upset. Just look at the news. There are American citizens being deported, bombs being dropped, and taxes being cut for the richest people in the country. Because these “opinions” of mine are so different from the majority of people in the OC, I get attacked by grown adults ...

Como se dice, awkwardddd?

Recently, I participated in the high school protests about ICE detaining people and the killing of American citizens. I had watched my parents distancing themselves from people who attack their opinions, but thought that was an adult problem.

I came back to the school from the protest, to MAGA hats and angry stares. I realized then, thanks to the impact of our divided country, I wasn’t free to have an opinion. I’m in an environment where it is impossible to calmly talk about my political opinions because of how politically charged everything is nowadays. I was told by a friend, “I know you don’t care about what is going on, you are a rich white girl.” I was both hurt and offended that living in a middle class neighborhood in OC made people believe I don’t care about my neighbors and about innocent people.

My faith is what guides my tenants of right and wrong. When I see people get shipped off, without due process, it makes me sick. Particularly the story of a local, now -ingle mother and her three kids left to fend for themselves, as their father is sent to somewhere that he had protected status from. In this time after the protest, I had been spoken down to as a liberal-leaning or just anti-MAGA person. I was made to believe I am the political minority.

The worst part was having someone tell me that I have no idea what is going on in the world; that I need to have 10 years of experience after I start voting to have a political opinion.

Excuse me? So, I will be allowed to drive, drink, vote—but I cannot have an opinion?

Admittedly, I understand where she is coming from. I don’t agree, but many of my friends tend to parrot what their parents say (which is perfectly fine, because we are still kids). However, I have done my own research by ingesting a variety of news sources (Yes, including Fox News, which makes me want to rip my eyes out).

So shouldn’t I be able to have an opinion if I check dozens of news sources and take a class literally based on finding credible and reliable sources?

So I’m here to tell you that there is a reason we’re mad. If you’re paying attention you realize these times are not normal. This country is founded on amazing ideas. We broke from one of the most powerful countries of the time, and triumphed against all odds. Now we have completely forgotten about what they fought for and what we should be fighting to protect. Now we post on Twitter and Truth Social instead of fixing all of our issues.

Maybe I’m wrong, but l’m thinking we just go back to being a normal country.

Mia Quandt is a sophomore at Tesoro High School.