1. Why is it important to be counted in the census?

It is important to be counted for the same reason it is important to vote. This is one of the major ways you can have your voice heard. The numbers counted are what decide the dividend of funding for the next 10 years. It also affects the number of seats in the government. If you want your surroundings to be improved, a huge step in that is being counted in the census.

2. Who are often uncounted in the census? Why might some people wish not to be counted? What are some personal and societal impacts of not being counted?

There are a lot of different groups that are not counted as accurately as others. There are those who do not trust the government with their personal information and therefore will not be counted. It is also hard to count homeless people since they do not have a permanent residence and it is difficult to locate every homeless person to count.

3. What is one new thing you learned during the session?

I learned what the census even was. Last time it occurred I was 10 years old, so this was all new information to me. I was very inquisitive and learned a lot, so I could share that information with them. One of the bigger things I took away from it is the impact it had on the next years of my life and all the funding that depended on the census.

4. Describe one of your passions (i.e. something important to you) and how it connects with federal or state funding.

While discussing with the table, I explained that my passion was anything that had to do with the medical field. I was told that the census will decide where new hospitals are needed depending on the fluctuation in populations surveyed. So, the census can affect where this is job availability.