Without thinking about political parties or candidates, think about this. This election matters. For myself and many other millennials, this will be the first time we will be casting a vote for president.
As a 20-year-old I vividly remember previous presidential elections. The election between Al Gore and George W. Bush are fuzzy, but I remember President Obama's first campaign. I remember watching his acceptance speech with my mother, and knowing we were watching history. I remember when Obama was up for re-election I was wishing I could vote, because I was 16 years-old at the time and wanted to say I voted for him and he's the president I will remember the most.
This election is important to me, because I will remember this for the rest of my life. It will be my first time casting an official federal ballot for president. Unfortunately, this election has been so messy that I'm almost ashamed to say I had to vote in an election in which Donald Trump was a candidate.
Without thinking about her faults, the fact that I'll be able to vote for Hillary Clinton, the first woman to appear on a major party ticket, is pretty remarkable.
Years ago, people were saying it was impossible for Obama to win, and be a successful president. We finally had our first African-American president (who had one of the most successful presidencies), and now we are progressing even more towards being more inclusive in politics with electing a woman.
This will not only be my first presidential election but historically, the first time a woman has a strong chance at winning. It will be memorable for many reasons, and I feel sort of special that my first time voting will be in a historically significant election.
So with that, we really shouldn't focus on the negatives, even though one candidate is making it pretty hard not to. Nonetheless, think about the people who are voting for the first time.
Maybe they recently became citizens and will wear their "I voted" sticker with pride, or maybe they're like me. Voting for the first time and happy to know their voices will be heard. This election was full of firsts, and it seems fitting this will be my first election.
Don't forget to vote, it's important.
