I’ll be honest; politics are stressful for me.

My parents raised me to be courteous about others’ political beliefs while teaching me to form my own opinions and hold true to what I believe. When I was a teen, I would actively discuss politics even though I was embarrassingly uninformed. I would listen to the adults in my life discuss politics and form my position off of snippets from their discussions. Now a 22-year-old woman, I try to read as much about the impending election as I can and try to find a candidate that speaks to me the most, no matter the political affiliation. There’s just one problem: No candidate in the 2016 election excites me.

Every day there is a new article telling me who I should vote for and who I should dismiss as a fraud. I watch the debates in hopes that, at last, I will have an overwhelming moment of clarity in which I think to myself, "that’s my candidate.” However, the election year is upon us and I am still as confused and unmoved by this crop of candidates as I was five months ago. I in no way claim to be a political expert. I do not claim to be able to sit across from someone and trade facts about the world’s most pressing issues. However, I am an adult who is of voting age and I am also a proud American. I want to head to the polls and cast my vote for the candidate that I believe is the best for the United States. It is not lost on me that it is a privilege to be able to vote for my country’s leaders and I don’t want that privilege to be wasted.

I am a millennial and from what I understand, millennials adore Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders. Sorry everyone, but I do not fall under the category of the young Americans who are “Feeling the Bern.” Whenever I log onto social media, it seems as though someone my age is posting about Bernie’s plans for free education and health care reform. Does the idea of free college education for young Americans sound enticing? Absolutely. Do I believe that every American deserves affordable health care? Without a doubt. However, I also know that we are living in a country with a debt that is increasing by the millisecond. I have no doubt that Bernie Sanders is a good person with the desire to bring major changes to America. So, do I think he is the best candidate for our country? No.

In a recent article in New York Mag titled “The Case Against Bernie Sanders,” writer Jonathan Chait said, “Nobody on the left wants to defend Wall Street or downplay the pressure on middle and working class Americans. But Sanders’s ideas should not be waved through as a more honest or uncorrupted version of the liberal catechism. The despairing vision he paints of contemporary America is oversimplified.”

I fear that some of my millennial counterparts fail to recognize what these drastic changes to our country would entail. All due respect to Sanders, but I have a hard time getting on board with paying off my student loans while being taxed to help make free education a reality for the college students of the future. No, I am not some monster who balks at the idea of free education. On paper, it sounds like the solution America has been praying for. In reality, it’s not that easy.

Something I can admire about Sanders are his views on the social issues that continue to divide our country. I can’t stomach watching politicians debate over whether gay marriage is a threat to our country. If I hear one more politician say, “Marriage is between one man and one woman” I may lose my mind. I also cannot fathom the idea that stricter gun control laws are a threat to my personal freedom. Quite frankly, I am more concerned with losing my life in a public place due to an unexplainable act of violence than I am with someone “infringing upon” my second amendment rights. I can also recognize that the racism in our country is reaching dangerous heights. To think that in this day and age, someone could be judged solely on the color of their skin is beyond me.

It is also worth nothing that I love the idea of America’s first female president. However, my desire to see this happen is not enough to throw my support behind Hilary whose decisions have some Americans debating over whether she can be trusted. I also can’t throw my support behind Donald Trump or Ted Cruz who each say something new every day that requires me to ask myself, "Wait, did I really just read that?"

I am a part of the growing population that defines ourselves as “socially liberal and fiscally conservative.” I wish there was a candidate (or party) who identified this way as well. Bottom line: the two party system is failing us. We need more legitimate choices.