PHILADELPHIA – The first thing Noemi Tungui did after swearing her oath of citizenship two months ago was pick up a voter registration form.
"I was telling my friends, 'I get to vote for Bernie now,'" Tungui said. "I don't just get to go and canvas for him."
This week, the 23-year-old California State University, Northridge student was one of more than 1,800 delegates pledged to Bernie Sanders at this year's Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
But despite their numbers, being a Sanders delegate at the convention in Philadelphia meant feeling like an outsider. Josephine Piarulli, 55, also a delegate from California, called the convention a "love fest for Hillary" and said Clinton supporters treated her with disdain.
Daniel Clark, 25, a Sanders delegate from Iowa, echoed that sentiment.
"It seems like they would rather not listen to what we have to say, but then they want us to listen to them," Clark said.
Tungui said that inclusive spirit is what drew her to Sanders when she first herd him speak at a Los Angeles rally in August. She had planned to attend a Clinton campaign event but couldn't go when she realized the cost of attendance. Then she saw two college-age friends post about a Sanders rally on Facebook, she said.
When she arrived at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the stadium was full but she was able to watch Sanders' speech from a large television screen just outside. She said she was moved and inspired by the speech and the likeminded people she met that day.
"It was the first time I heard a politician talk about immigration in a way that made us feel like human beings, like we were welcome and like he was going to do something," Tungui said.
Tungui's family moved from Mexico to the United States when she was 3 years old. She called her parents hard-working, taxpaying permanent residents, but she said she is often the victim of discriminatory remarks because of her heritage. After the August rally, Tungui decided to begin the process of becoming a U.S. citizen.
Coming to the convention, she was among a group of delegates hoping to make Sanders the nominee. But on the first day of the convention, Sanders sent a text to supporters urging them not to engage in protests on the convention floor. During the formal roll call vote Tuesday, Sanders moved to suspend the rules and nominate Hillary Clinton by acclamation, a symbol of unity within the party. The move left many delegates with a dilemma.
Dozens of Sanders-pledged delegates, including Tungui and Piarulli, chose to walk out of the convention hall in protest. Tungui sat outside the arena with tape over her mouth, a gesture to symbolize the silencing of her voice by the Democratic National Committee.
Just before the start of the convention, a series of leaked emails suggested the DNC favored Clinton as the party's nominee despite a promise to remain neutral throughout the primary process. While Sanders has publicly endorsed Clinton, Tungui said it's important to her that the issues the Sanders campaign addressed not be forgotten.
"I came here to be change," Tungui said. "I'm not just going to sit down and stay quiet because that's what they expect us to do.
"I hope Bernie respects that from me," she added, pointing to Sanders' time spent protesting for civil rights as a student at the University of Chicago. "I'm sure there were people that told him not to do that."
Throughout the four-day convention, speakers including President Obama and Sanders himself praised the campaign and its supporters for their organizing efforts and their influence in creating a progressive platform. But these same speakers also urged voters to choose Clinton.
Brendan Houlihan, a Sanders delegate from Illinois, said that despite his disappointment he will now vote for Clinton because he does not want to see a Trump presidency.
"The party has made a decision as to who the candidate is and I'm sure they're going to work hard to elect her and she's going to work hard," Houlihan said.
But Piarulli describes Clinton as the antithesis of the progressive agenda and said Sanders supporters who come out in favor of Clinton are "traitors." She said by supporting Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and the party as a whole will "reap what they sow" if Trump is elected.
Still, some Sanders delegates saw the convention as an opportunity to see just how serious Clinton is about enacting a progressive agenda.
Susan Posey is a Sanders delegate from Virginia, where Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine served as governor and now serves as senator. Posey said she was initially disappointed by the Kaine pick, but she's optimistic after learning more about him at the convention.
"It was a bit of a slap in the face because he's not progressive in his politics," she said. "On the other hand he is a nice guy and apparently has sort of a progressive heart. I have some hope he's a person we'll be able to work with."
For her part, Tungui said she recognized the historic significance of the convention but felt that many of the speakers were pandering to various demographics — one example being 10-year-old Karla Ortiz, the child of undocumented immigrants, meant to show that Clinton will fight for immigration reform.
Come Election Day, Tungui said she cannot in good conscience vote for Clinton, someone who she feels flip-flops on too many issues, including fracking and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But she doesn't see Clinton as the "evil criminal" that some paint her to be.
Tungui said that as the daughter of immigrants, she will not cast a vote for Trump. She will likely vote for one of the third party candidates, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party or Green Party candidate Jill Stein. But she wants to research each more before making her decision.
Midway through the convention, Tungui said there was "no unity within the Democratic Party," and there were rumors of a planned walkout during Clinton's acceptance speech. Though it did not materialize, about two dozen Sanders delegates protested outside and occasional screams of "never Hillary" could be heard during her speech Thursday.
As the Democratic Party fights to unify behind Clinton, the Sanders campaign has begun to think about what comes next. They've launched an organization called "Our Revolution" that aims to continue the message of the Sanders campaign and support progressive candidates for office.
Tungui might count herself among those candidates in the near future. She said she still believes America can elect honest political leaders, and the Sanders campaign inspired her to be more than just a citizen in this democracy.
"We have to be the leaders that we seek to elect," she said.
Reach Staff Reporter Kate Guarino here.
Annenberg Media