Displaying their support for recently re-elected President Barack Obama, several students volunteered yesterday at the Obama campaign office in Downtown San Jose.

Located on Market Street, the Obama campaign center is controlled by Organizing for America, a committee formed by the president after his first election.

Students volunteering at the center performed a variety of jobs aimed to help Obama in his campaign. Senior Molly Wolfe (12) called people in select states and encouraged them to cast their ballots.

“I called random strangers in Colorado, Ohio, and Nevada because those are the really big swing states. [The campaign] was trying to make sure that people went out and voted,” she said.

Another student volunteer Jasmine Liu (9) called citizens and asked them to join the Obama campaign by working at the center.

“The first time I went, we […] tried to recruit people to volunteer, [and] it was interesting to see how many people do so much to support Obama in our community,” Jasmine said.

Both Jasmine and Shannon Hong (9), who worked together at the center, revealed that they volunteered in order to understand the process of the elections.

“It just gives you some perspective about the emotional aspect about why people want to vote for a certain candidate,” Jasmine said.

On the other hand, Molly explained that she spent her time working at the campaign center because she wanted to participate in the election this year, even though she is not eligible to vote.

“I just figured that I am not old enough to vote, but I still wanted to be involved in the election somehow, so volunteering would be a good way to do that,” she said.

When Obama won the re-election yesterday, many of the volunteers who walked into the office said they were inspired by the diversity of  Obama’s supporters and their passion towards the election.

“[I learned that] this political activity is actually worth something and that [by volunteering] I was actually making a difference in this world,” Shannon said, after witnessing election night at the campaign center.

Since Obama has won his second term in office, the campaign center will remain closed until the next election. Students can volunteer for the Senate elections, which will come in two years and in the 2016 presidential elections.