Every election that I’ve lived through never really mattered to me. In my defense, two out of the three I wasn’t allowed to vote in so naturally I wouldn’t care about it. The first election that I remember vividly was in 2008 and I was in the fifth grade. My elementary school made a really big deal about the election, as every school should. My teacher said that my only homework was to watch who became president. It was between Barack Obama and John McCain. I remember watching it and being incredibly bored, mostly because I didn’t understand any of what was going on. Whenever it was announced that Barack Obama had one, I remember there was an overwhelming sense of celebration throughout the nation. Being a fifth grader, I hadn’t really seen anything negative said nor did I really know what the difference between a republican and democrat.
My school held its own polling event despite the fact that no one's vote would actually count. I'd like to think they did it to get us to practice our right to vote. So that way many years later, we would have a better sense of what we were doing and what it means to. To me, voting meant choosing the coolest name out on the ballot and voting for whoever my mom said she was voting for. (Just a little PSA, don’t vote for whoever you’re parents are voting for, research and learn about each side and then decide because you may have different viewpoints from your parents.) As a fifth grader I didn’t really understand the division and animosity towards the different sides. Which is why when someone asked me who I voted for, I proudly said ” Barack Obama.”
The girl who asked me didn’t want to answer my question after she heard my answer. When I look back on that memory today, I’m sorta confused to as why she didn’t want to tell me that she voted for the republican side. People are allowed to express different viewpoints and still be respectful towards each other. In addition to the polling center, we had a mini election where every fifth grader had to be a former president and make a speech. we had a fancy little dinner and watch each others speeches. I was the 11th president of the United States, James Polk. A president that is often overlooked and no one really knows. I have to say I nailed that speech, acting very presidential.
The second election happened I 2012, and I was in the 9th grade. The election was between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Even though I was in high school, I still didn’t really have an interest in anything political. In fact, I thought that my voice didn’t really matter. I felt like everyone else’s opinion was going to outweigh my own. I’m pretty sure right then and there, I vowed that I wouldn’t vote. ( spoiler alert : I do end up voting!)
I think what really changed my opinion on everything political is when I took civics class in the 12th grade. ( it was also how scary the upcoming candidates were for the election) Besides learning government and economics stuff, the main lesson that my teach wanted for us to get out of the class is : to go out and vote. Not only is it our civic duty ( one f the key terms I learned), but also its extremely important. More times than not, being eighteen and being able to vote is what puts us into the category that were ” functioning beings of society.” It is so much more than that.
As a society we often point out our flaws, but nothing really ever done about the issues at hand. People running for office, most of the time have the same view points as you and have solutions to some of the issues that may be very important to you. As a citizen, you may hear things you don’t like which is why you should go out and vote for the things you do like otherwise you will just be complaining about how nothing has changed when you aren’t willing tot change it by voting. Of course, one party isn’t going to get the candidate they wanted. It's more so about the freedom to choose and there will always be the next presidency.
Okay, so back to my story, today I went out and voted early. It was extremely terrifying and liberating at the same time. I have made a lot of decisions throughout my lifetime, but for the first time I felt like I was making a decision that matter. My vote will play a small part in who wins the election this year, and the idea of that, to me, is crazy. Before this I thought that voting was some boring adult chore, but it's so much more. Despie the contradcitong feelins, I can say that I'm glad I voted and I'm loking forward to many years to come.
