JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<script src="http://ivaynberg.github.io/select2/select2-3.4.5/select2.js"></script>
<select id='first'>
<option value='1'>First</option>
<option value='2'>Second</option>
<option value='3'>three</option>
</select>

JavaScript

$("#first").select2();

console.log("first val:" + $("#first").val());
console.log("first select2 val:" + $("#first").select2('val'));