One of my earliest memories is watching the Bush/Gore presidential debates in 2000, yes I was 4. I remember being fascinated by the fervor and the skill these men possessed as they went back and forth arguing over who had the better plan for the nation. In that moment something was sparked in me; an obsession with politics.

Through the 2004-2012 elections I was one of the most vocal people among my peers on my opinions and the importance of supporting candidates, despite being unable to vote. And after every election ended, I grew more excited about the 2016 election when I would finally get to vote for the president of the United States. While my friends were excited to turn 18 because…I don’t know being able to buy Sharpies, I counted down the days because until I could get my voter registration card.

Imagine my disgust now at the state of this election circus. This election is crap. Donald Trump is the Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee. I am just so disenchanted with this. I honestly feel as if the American election system has let me down.

At least I did until I realized; I don’t have to vote for either one of them. The beauty of living in a Democratic Republic is that I can make my own choice. That is why I will be proudly voting for a candidate who isn’t the nominee of the two parties—well actually I’m voting for a third party candidate because I cannot on good conscious vote for the nominees.

On November 8, when I get into that voting booth I will be casting my vote for a candidate that I believe represents my views. I feel that too often people focus on voting for a party, not a person. My views would have me voting Republican, but I would never in a million years vote for Donald Trump. I would sooner vote for a monkey than for Trump. To be completely, honest thinking about Trump as president makes my angry.

Political parties do nothing for the nation. These parties have caused more fighting than there is water in the ocean. The United States has been ruined by the two camps battling and constantly undermining each other. No real change occurs and politicians end up working for themselves. It’s a mess and I’m tired of it.

I know everyone else is too. There’s a reason why people hate politics and the phrase is that politics and religion are the two things no one should talk about. It really shouldn’t be that way. It’s time to stop this bullshit.

Don’t vote for a party, vote for a person. It’s time to see what a new perspective in charge can do. We all know what Democrats believe and we all know what Republicans believe. Let’s hear from someone else. Let’s stop yelling at each other and actually get something done.

We fight for an end to the gender binary, because we agree that binaries are stupid. The world is multifaceted and we can agree that male and female isn’t enough to describe every single person. Why can’t we do the same with political parties? There’s more politics than Republican and Democrat—things aren’t so blue and red.

Once upon a time I was in love with politics, now I’m not so sure. Let’s put a stop to all of this crap and actually vote with our heads. If you’re like me and you don’t like the three candidates, you don’t have to pick them. I urge you to do research and vote for someone you care about. I want another 4 year old kid to fall in love with politics, like I did.