With the 2016-2017 Presidential election in the US, not only did the people of America gain a new president, but we gained the stirring of the pot of political division that came with Donald Trump’s campaign and now presidency. But Donald Trump is not to blame for the continued polarization between the left and right. It is us, the people on the left and right. What is it going to take for us to realize that we’ve gone too far? What is it going to take that we’ve taken things to the extreme and made politics an all-encompassing part of social lives? Is it going to take a Republican congressman getting shot playing baseball by a “Bernie” supporter?

I think we all need to take a step back and stop blaming the media and “fake news” for all of the problems in our political and social sphere. Yes, Facebook filters the posts that show up on our feed to feed our confirmation bias, but what is more concerning is what people do with this fact.

How many people seek out political opinions not like their own and truly open their mind to a different rationale online and off? How many people realize that letting politics dictate the entire nature of their relationships feeds into our current polarized nation? Us, as millennials, have the power to change the status quo. We can be different than our parents. We can talk about politics in a more constructive way without inviting our egos and pride into the conversation. It is our obligation as United States citizens living in this democracy.

I know it is easy to see a pro-trump tweet from a potential roommate and immediately think they hate Mexicans and love Russia. I know it is just as easy to see a tweet about how Hillary Clinton still should be president over collusion with Putin and think they want to steal money from the rich and give it the poor. Please, whatever you do, do not let this be your deciding factor for who lays their head next to yours in that dorm room. People are much more than politics.

If you seek out those who are different from you, you not only make yourself but this country a better place by fighting political division plague. You are opening the door for progress, and ultimately more fulfillment. We can be the generation that starts this change. Will you?