On Monday, Feb. 3, I witnessed something beautiful: democracy in action.  Fifty students and staff from Niles North went to Iowa City to witness the Iowa Caucus. 

We visited the Sanders, Warren, and Buttigieg campaign offices. I got to hear supporters of each campaign give passionate speeches on why they support their candidate. It was a fun experience talking to supporters of other candidates to see their point of view.

After visiting the offices we went to the University of Iowa to listen to professor Tom Rice talk about his view on the caucus and what it means to him. He talked about his experience on Jimmy Carter’s campaign and how that shaped his life.

After that we went back to the hotel to watch the caucus.  But to witness a caucus first hand was something special. You have representatives for candidates giving passionate speeches on why their candidate will beat Trump and unite the country.

Then they voted. But Iowa’s caucus is unique because if a candidate gets under 15% of the total votes the people who voted for them can change their vote to someone who is over 15%. That is why you see two votes when you look at Iowa’s caucus results.

But for the first time ever, the results were delayed. Normally the results come in around 10 pm but as the clock ticked closer to 10 pm we started receiving news that the revealing of the results was delayed.

When I heard the news I thought a foreign nation hacked the caucus but now we know it was a problem with the app.

Overall the trip to witness the Iowa caucus was a life changing event and helped show how even small towns matter. 

My name is Zach Ramos, this is my first time writing for North Star News.  I am a senior and in college I plan on studying political science.