'A lot of people on college campuses right now are over it,' Jonnie Penn tells MTV News.
By Uptin Saiidi
Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin, Duncan Penn and Dave Lingwood of "The Buried Life"
Photo: MTV News
When they're not checking off items on their bucket list, the four guys that make up "The Buried Life" have been busy touring the country to speak at colleges and universities. The MTV stars currently have a new show in development and a book due out later this month called "What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?" which they hope makes it onto the New York Times Best Sellers list — it's #19 on their bucket list.
They recently stopped by MTV News while in New York to speak at St. John's College, where they weighed in on themes of the presidential election as they relate to young people. "A lot of people on college campuses right now are over it. They kind of want to move on, they want to work, they want to apply themselves and they're just sick of all this kind of ... chatter," Jonnie Penn said. "So are we. All this chatter kind of buries you. You just want to push all that stuff away."
Disinterest among young people is already showing at the polls. On Super Tuesday, MTV News had teams dispatched in three states. In Massachusetts, correspondent Jacob Soboroff reported on the record-low turnout at Boston University — the state's largest university. Meanwhile, students in Ohio offered various reasons for not voting, from having plans to "paint" to just not caring.
When asked what the solution was to raising political awareness among college-age students, Ben Nemtin perked up. "If you have an inkling in what you feel you want to do, but you haven't done it yet, find people around that you can collaborate with. That's how this thing started. We weren't best friends growing up or anything — we came together to start 'Buried Life.' "
One solution Jonnie ultimately offered was to actually do less talking. "Some advice someone gave me that I took to heart was, listening to the people you don't agree with, take in the positions ... learn from the people you don't agree with.
"See why they feel that way and then it will help you understand why you feel the way you do, and it will also help you say, 'Well, maybe we can compromise to do this.' Because if you don't listen, you're just adding to the chatter."
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