Claudia Conway turned 18 in mid-October. When we meet, there are still rainbow birthday balloons hovering on the ceiling of her kitchen. That age is a milestone for anyone, but for Claudia, it means she can not only vote — later that day, she’d go to her local polling place for the first time — but also get a fresh chance at telling her story. “I took a break from [interviews] because of the way that my words were being misconstrued — especially as a teenager, and especially with the chaos of, one, my home life, and, two, the atmosphere that I was catapulted into,” she says as we settle into a pair of couches near the entryway. She never wanted to be seen as a whistleblower: “I was trying to let the world know that you are not a product of your environment. Because I could not be any [more] different from where I came from.” Conway opens up about her relationship with her mother, social media, and what she sees in her future. Read More | 
