As Election Day approaches for the United States on Nov. 3, 2020, many students are faced with their first political election, and with it, the endless news cycle that leads many to turn to apathy. Melissa Nickel, who goes by MJ, already knows who she’s voting for.
“Trump,” Nickel said.
Nickel is no stranger to wearing her political heart on her sleeve. She on occasion wears a Trump-themed hat to class, along with pins and buttons adorned with phrases such as “Socialism Sucks.”
“For my personal views and my beliefs,” Nickel said when asked about why she wears the pins. “I’m a follower of Christ — I have been ever since I was six years old.”
Nickel said a large part of beliefs come from her parents encouraging her to find the facts and playing devil’s advocate with her.
College campuses, broadly, are traditionally left-leaning, though that depends on a myriad of factors. Mesa County has voted a majority Republican in the past five presidential elections. This diversity of interests hasn’t always manifested itself in an ugly way, even as the election approaches.
Nickel has seen Biden and Bernie hats on campus and in class, but personally hasn’t gotten any backlash from those in her major.
“I think with Bernie hats, Biden hats, Trump hats — it’s not like someone saw me or I saw them and we have a different hat, and we’re just going to tear each other apart in class. No, because we’re all civil, we’re all people, we’re all humans.”
Flaunting political gear during a controversial election isn’t new, but to many, it’s not worth the potential arguments or silent judgments.
Nickel doesn’t have an issue if someone does decide to disagree with her.
“If they do, I’ll say, “well I like my hat.” In short, I don’t care what people think of me. I’m going to live my life the way that the Lord has intended me to live it.”
Outside cyberspace, Nickel has found that disagreeing doesn’t necessarily get in the way of interactions.
“One of my professors, she is very much the opposite of me,” Nickel said. “I’m very much “go Christ” and “go Trump” and all that stuff, and we can have conversations. She’s one of my favorite professors ever because she makes me elaborate on things and she makes me get down to the nitty-gritty on a project. She’ll make me tear it apart piece by piece so that it can then be perfect for something.”
