Over the time of quarantine, as political videos and stories flooded his social media feed, Jacob Lee (‘23) grew an intense interest regarding political matters. Constantly researching reputable sources and initially having conversations with others led to the start of his debate career.

As Lee continued to obtain information from sources such as The Associated Press he prepared to start debating with an independent group of individuals sharing the same interests. Lee became introduced to the debate group through individuals he personally knows. Constantly researching political information has led Lee to be the winner of 29 debates out of 30.

“We debate mainly on social issues regarding things such as abortion, even things like use of specific slurs against people. We also  talk about some economic issues which can be socialism and capitalism, as well as medicare for all, things like that,” Lee said.

In addition to frequent debates, Lee is a member of the Young Democrats Club.

“A lot of what I did for the 2020-2021 school year was a lot of activism regarding wearing items such as “Vote” shirts and I wore a “Joe Biden” mask. I also did a whole lot of online activism regarding telling people who are eligible to vote to do the voting,” Lee said.

With the role of activism comes discrimination and back lash, something Lee has received in large amounts. To be exact, from the start of 2020, Lee has received a total of 19 death threats, one being extremely serious.

“Part of the reason I wore my Joe Biden mask was to do a sociological experiment to see how people would treat me. I measured over one hundred people and their reactions to me, more than half of them were very aggressive and some were even violent, leading to death threats that I had to report.On many occasions I’ve been threatened with violence, to be beaten up, and to have the ‘liberal’ beaten out of me.There was one person that did not go to our school with an anonymous identity who actually revealed my address to me. I have no idea how they were able to find it, but they showed serious malicious intent, only due to the fact that I expressed my political opinions with a mask.Some of them were actually genuine to the point where I had to make sure we were going to be alright, that’s not even a joke,” Lee said.

Even with  threats made by others and hatred directed towards him, Lee continues to advocate for topics he feels should have light shined on.

“I feel like the ability to have others getting interested in something that’s changing their lives, how the country’s run, how the world runs, I feel like everyone should know about that, and having that passion for it can get other people involved and spread the cycle,” Lee said.