Recorded from Salisbury, Maryland, 2021.

This snapshot was gathered by the Peale in conjunction with the Maryland Voices initiative at Maryland Humanities, specifically to supplement the "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America" traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program. This collection, made up of stories of first-time voters between the ages of 18 and 24, showcases the experiences of young people as they wrestled with the 2020 presidential election, issues around social justice, the environment, immigration, and the pandemic. The full collection of stories is available at www.museumonmainstreet.org.

Chiara Benato (00:00): I'm Chiara Benato. I'm originally from New Jersey. I moved to Maryland about three, almost three years ago, permanently. I came here originally for school at Salisbury University. I was... I received a bachelor's degree in History and Education and continued my education directly after at Salisbury University, again, getting a masters in English Literature. I'm also a TA there. So I get to interact with undergrads, still, and still get to pursue my passion for teaching there.

Chiara Benato (00:36): In terms of making a difference in my community, within the university community, we have, like everyone has, I shouldn't say everyone, but a lot of people have social media. So spreading awareness through social media posts and stories and things like that. Trying to do that as best as one can.

Chiara Benato (00:59): I did support... I remember back in last summer, I believe it was in June, there was a Black Lives Matter protest that I did not feel comfortable going to due to the pandemic, but I had a friend go and support the people who do feel comfortable going. Spread awareness where you can, I guess, where or when you are able to.

Asset ID: 2021.03.07.g