I first want to thank the Herich family and the Ryan T. Herich Scholarship for giving me the chance to speak about one of the many lessons I've learned about politics. During the 2020 redistricting cycle, twenty-eight state congressional maps, accounting for 270 House seats, were created by partisan state legislatures. This decade's redistricting cycle has eliminated eleven competitive districts (districts a party won by less than a ten percent margin) in favor of safe Democrat and Republican seats. While I was always politically active and knowledgeable, facts like these always blew my mind. Frankly, I didn't know such a statistic existed until I went to Jersey Boys State this summer. The delegates and I heard State Senator Jon Brammick speak. Part of his speech was about holding politicians accountable to their constituents. One policy he proposed was a Constitutional Amendment to create nationwide independent redistricting committees to create as many competitive congressional seats as possible. Brammick's speech was the first time I heard of gerrymandering and partisan tactics to discriminate against parties and people. Once I researched more about redistricting and the many egregious maps that state legislatures drew (look at the now struck-down New York "Hochulmander" or Tennesses's Nashville districts), I realized that this issue was too big for just me to make an impact. As Senator Brammick noted, one side effect of partisan gerrymandering is a lack of accountability for congresspeople. When districts consistently vote for one party, politicians aren't motivated to listen to their constituents because their reelection is virtually inevitable. For example, in Detroit, one congressman is in a seat Biden won by fifty percent. The congressman is known for having one of the worst constituent services in the country, ignoring the problems of his voters and instead tweeting on X. Sadly, this isn't in the news, despite the complaints of the people of Detroit. The congressman cruised to reelection in his safe blue seat this November because dissatisfied partisans voted for party over service. With the rise of partisan gerrymandering and the decline of competitive House seats, we, the voters, must come together to support nationwide independent redistricting committees to get the power of Congress out of partisan state legislatures and back into the hands of regular voters. As I go to college next fall, I plan to work with professors to research gerrymandering further and plan action to combat this power grab. As a high school student, I have called my local representatives to urge them to support multiple Congressional gerrymandering bans going through the legislative process. I work closely with my local League of Women Voters chapter, assisting them with voter engagement initiatives. While my local chapter mainly supports "get the vote" initiatives and youth civic education, I hope to expand their redistricting initiatives endorsed by the national chapter. While progress is challenging to create, everything starts locally. As an intern of my local league, I have attended many meetings and gatherings promoting anti-gerrymandering initiatives, such as petitions, letters to local officials, and education initiatives to help others understand the gravity that partisan gerrymandering has on our government. As I leave my local area and move elsewhere for college, I hope to continue my advocacy for fair Congressional maps, working with other groups such as different League of Women Chapters and other advocacy groups such as the Princeton Gerrymandering Project to fight for equal maps to bring power back to the people and ensure that no representative gets a free ride to reelection by ignoring their constituents.