Photography and Reporting
Sharon High students gathered in the school cafeteria on election night, watching with excitement and tension as polls closed across Massachusetts and initial results streamed in.
More than 30 students glued their eyes to NBC News Live, ate pizza, joked a bit, and expressed their hopes and fears. Some students had cast their first votes today; others spent hours volunteering at the nearby polls, where until 8 pm, crowds continued to pour in.
“The process of working at the polls is beautiful. You’re around people who sacrifice hours of the day and devote energy towards democratic processes. It makes me hopeful for the future of democracy,” said volunteer Rohith Raghavan, an SHS senior.
Inside the Sharon High gymnasium, where thousands came to vote, adult and teen volunteers worked alongside each other to ensure the process ran smoothly.
Willow Liu , an SHS senior who voted for the first time, said she thinks that most students who could vote actually showed up to the polls.
Other students were not old enough to vote, but they attended the watch party for both the food and the learning. Benjamin Eio and Ritish Dhawan described this election as being “nine and ten on the excitement meter.”
Social Studies teachers Sean O’Reilly and Courtnay Malcolm organized the watch night, which has become an SHS tradition every four years. It provides a space for students and teachers to process the results as they move in. This year especially, many students said that the election makes them nervous, with seniors Liu and Dante Gorostovich sharing that it makes them “fearful” and “tense.”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Liu noted.
