“I grew up in a town with really different political views from my own,” says Maddie Maviglia, a junior at UM-Dearborn. “I wanted to see change for the people around me who felt like I did but didn’t have the representation within the community.” Through her experiences in and outside of the classroom at UM-Dearborn, the political science major has been afforded the opportunity to pursue a career in policy reform to effect change on behalf of underrepresented communities. And she does so with true intention and ambition.

Maddie, in her own words

On getting out the vote. “Last year, I was asked by our voter registration chair to take over his position for his senior year and I jumped on the opportunity. I really loved the things he did within our university making us a voter-friendly campus and I wanted to help push those initiatives. Getting people out to vote really makes a change in our community.”

On maintaining focus. “When I look at things like being a Difference Maker or being chair for voter engagement or studying abroad, I ask if it supports the life I’m trying to create for myself and for other people’s futures. Based off my answer, I’ll either continue or not. I care about voter engagement and getting people to use their rights within the United States, within the university and within themselves.”

On a monumental meeting. “When I was doing my study abroad in Ottawa, Canada, I spent a month working with MP Brian Masse, the representative for Windsor West. He has a close connection with Jagmeet Singh, who is the leader of one of the new democratic parties in Canada, the New Democratic Party. He sat down with me — for what felt like forever, but was really only about 10 minutes — and asked me what I’m passionate about. I was able to tell him about the things I do on campus and he told me that the things that I’m doing are exactly what we need to see change within our community. That really impacted the way I do everything. I realized my true passion is to see policy change so that everyone has the opportunity to make a difference, whether that’s voting or rallying or just spreading word of mouth. I think that through policy change you can see real difference and having Jagmeet explain that to me within this short conversation, which he may never remember, truly impacted my life.”