How To Navigate Politics Without Losing Yourself

By Valarie Lin, Staff Writer Edited by Savannah Stewart

When starting college, you are met with hundreds of opportunities to immerse yourself in campus life. Politics may be among these. From curiosity about on-campus protests and having debates in your dorm or in class, to seeing different topics on mainstream media, various concepts become intertwined. For once, you might question your beliefs, far from what your parents or upbringing conditioned you to think. Finding your political identity isn’t easy; it doesn’t happen instantly. The journey is about knowing what you want to support and what is best for our society and government to function. This can be a chance to challenge yourself to learn something new by creating your own voice. 

Navigating politics isn’t about being the loudest voice or taking sides; it’s about acting with dignity, developing critical thinking skills, and upholding your ideals. Politics can lead to interactions with others that explore the nuances of specific ongoing issues. Political engagement isn’t a way to create or support chaos, but rather a way to implement thoughtful practices that encourage you to understand yourself and different communities. 

The first step in navigating politics is to seek understanding before reacting. In today’s society, social media is one of the main ways teenagers and young adults encounter news and politics, as they observe emotional posts on Instagram or scroll through short clips on TikTok. A constant news stream can also lead to easily misinterpreted or misleading sources or news articles when people’s short attention spans create obstacles to researching facts. It’s necessary to ask yourself: Do I fully understand what the problem is asking or talking about? Where is the news coming from? Is it from a credible source? By asking these kinds of questions, you gain a more comprehensive perspective on a topic. Learning what you are unfamiliar with is critical in politics because having the truth, or getting close enough to it, allows you to make sense of a wider range of opinions, leading to meaningful conversations. 

Reading news articles from outlets of all leanings and attending political science lectures or history classes are ways to broaden your understanding of complex ideals. At Syracuse University, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs often hosts panels and guest speakers who bring layered perspectives to current debates. Attending these panels can deepen your engagement in ways that social media can’t, such as asking the guest speaker questions in real time and receiving a direct, and even authentic, response. 

Another key part of politics is remembering that your political identity doesn’t entirely shape who you are. Many students might feel pressured to represent a community or movement based on race, class, gender or age, but doing so doesn’t define every aspect of their thinking. You can support social justice but still have concerns or questions regarding the policies to achieve it; you must be intellectually flexible to carry on honest conversations. College has become increasingly polarized, separating students into conservative and liberal groups. But polarization shouldn’t be a competition. When that happens, we lose the opportunity to learn from each other, as college is where disagreements should spark curiosity instead of hostility. In Johanna Alonso’s article “To Attend a College Aligned With Their Politics, Students Would Pay Higher Price,” she writes, “One of the best ways advocates have found to get students to participate in dialogue with those they disagree with is to ensure they have the opportunity to interact with those people in classes, residence halls and dining halls — places where they can come to see each other as people, rather than opponents.” 

Protests are examples of student engagement on campuses like SU’s. These public demonstrations include the “Hands Up” rally in support of the three students whose visas were wrongfully revoked in part by the Trump administration’s education policies, or setting up encampments in front of Hendricks Chapel to support Gaza, demanding that the school stop its contributions to weapons manufacturing, which aids Israel’s war efforts. Participating in or witnessing these protests can send a powerful message, as it gives students a chance to openly show their concern and help to provide a voice to those who are underrepresented or unable. Understanding your intentions can be helpful when engaging in these protests because it can ensure that your participation is based on genuine conviction rather than the social expectations of those around you. 

Brandon Tamez, an SU senior and Political Science and Digital Humanities double-major, shared that the ways he’s experienced politics impact his approach to his political identity. “I have privileges and disadvantages because of who I am, and I can use those privileges to navigate politically,” he said: “I am a first-generation Mexican, and I have the privilege of citizenship, something I use to advocate for those who aren’t citizens. As a gay man, I have male privilege, something that allows my voice to carry more weight when I’m engaging politically. My political identity comes from the traits about me that have been most politicized in society.”

Politics is also about disagreeing without disrespecting. While simple disagreements can make people uncomfortable, they don’t have to become hostile. In college, not everyone will always agree with each other, and that’s okay. Having disagreements can be beneficial because they can lead to engaging, vital conversations formed by contrasting political perspectives.  In an article by Zaid Jilani, he states, “Exposure to different points of view in their immediate social networks seems to be associated with looking much more closely and critically at the candidate’s position, as opposed to just reflexively rooting for their team.” By being civil and open to learning, you can both respectfully disagree and have a stronger political understanding of why your support sways in a particular direction. 

College is a place to prepare for your future and a time to learn to nurture your political identity with dignity. How you approach political conversations can shape how you contribute to society after graduation. Engaging in politics will not result in losing yourself, but will help you find another part of yourself that wants to grow, learn, and question. In a world that often rewards hatred over compassion, staying informed and open-minded is a person's most radical decision. 

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