My name's Connor Grady, and I'm a senior at the University of Michigan. Originally from Philadelphia, I arrived in Ann Arbor back in August of 2015. On campus, I'm studying Political Science with a minor in Writing, and I'm currently enrolled in the capstone course for the minor. As part of the class, I created this project, "The Narrows," to explore my longstanding interests in American politics through a short-story choose-your-own-adventure experience.

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After spending my 2017 and 2018 summers interning in Washington, DC's political sphere, politics only became all the more appealing and interesting to me. Initially, I started as a legislative intern for a Pennsylvania Senator in the summer of 2017, before transitioning to a bipartisan government relations firm during the summer of 2018. While I loved the energy and excitement that both positions brought, I found myself somewhat surprised at the clear political divisions engulfing the city. Even after leaving Washington, I continued to be struck-by the growing polarization I saw across America between members of the two parties.

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While I have always been intrigued by the American political system, "The Narrows" arose much more recently. Since 2016, I have witnessed our country become more divided, polarized, and partisan than ever before. At times, it feels as if we live in two entirely different nations depending on our political leanings, with our partisan affiliation coloring everything we do from the morning news programming we watch to the language we use every day.

 

From this observation, I developed "The Narrows" as a choose-your-own adventure set in a fictional, futuristic, and dystopian society in which partisanship determines an individual’s everyday experiences and, by extension, shapes their lives. As a choose-your-own adventure piece, my project empowers readers to make consequential decisions on behalf of the protagonist and drive the narrative according to their preferences and their interpretation of this universe. It's my goal that the allegory of "The Narrows" can help us become more aware of the frightening social changes occurring in our country that impact everyone regardless of their political leanings. Ultimately, I hope that this piece can inspire an introspective conversation about ourselves and the divided nature of our nation today.

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