It's a crazy realization that Donald Trump has been the President of the United States for an entire year. I guess time flies by when you play a lot of golf. But really, the 2020 presidential election isn't too far away. Perhaps Oprah Winfrey will become the first female President of our great nation during the 2020 election.

To me, it doesn't matter if the candidate is a republican or a democrat because I find so many faults in the two-party system. As a college student, my biggest concern with the upcoming election is mostly education reform and how it impacts my generation.

Furthering your education after secondary education is becoming more popular. Young adults graduating high school want to pursue their dream careers at a community college, universities, technical schools, or skip college to jump right into the workforce. Lots of students are faced with mounds of college debt and some have no support from their parents or the government.

Yes, it would be absolutely fantastic if every student could get a free secondary education but, that isn't realistic or practical. The "free ride" that students get in other countries isn't attainable in the USA and I don't think it ever should be. How does a "free ride" show responsibility and integrity to students? If my generation has the mentality of everything being handed to them, it won't matter who the next President is and how they impact our country because we have already failed.

A "free ride" doesn't give my generation the opportunity to actually work for something. The students that get a "free ride" based on their academic, athletic, or musical/art achievements, have already worked hard to achieve their goals. It was definitely not handed to them.

You don't have to go to college to make a living - as much as people tell you that you need a college degree to be successful, you don't. Although a college degree of any kind will help you in your job search, there are a lot of jobs in various fields that do not require a college degree.

I am very thankful to be living in a country that, even though may not give a "free ride" to every student, still gives substantial amounts of money to college students. Along with the help of our taxpayer's dollars, students all over can chase their dreams and find the job that's perfect for them even if that means they will be in some debt after graduation.

This next election is so crucial for the education reform that needs to take place. The amount of college debt for some students is absolutely insane. Adults in their late 40's are still paying off some of their own college debt, over 20 years later!

I may not know what the answer is to help fix some of this problem, but I'm pretty sure free secondary education for every student is not the answer. I'm hopeful to a different leader of our country that cares more about education and how to solve some of the problems it faces.