It’s 2 a.m. You’re three pages into an eight-page analytical research paper that’s due in six hours. You scour the internet in hopes of coming across the perfect article that will conceal your impressive ability to procrastinate, blasting some instrumental "study" mix you found on Youtube through your headphones on the third floor of your university's library.

The last thing that is on your mind at this particular moment is CNN's coverage of the 2016 presidential race as you desperately try to muster out a passing grade on the paper you so tragically left waiting on your desk two weeks too long. However, despite common misconception, ignorance is not bliss, and failing to recognize the importance of being politically aware can be somewhat dangerous as we young folk attempt to delve into what is known as the "real world."

I call this the "College Effect" – self defined as a bubble of student organizations, exams, and Netflix, the College Effect is the reason why so many young people seem out of touch with current events.

It is so easy to remain ignorant of today’s domestic and foreign affairs, as we live in a world of "who’s dating whom" and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." But God forbid Mark Dice stops you on a boardwalk in San Diego, asking what year the Declaration of Independence was signed and you don’t know the answer, be prepared to move to Australia.

I know too many people who are too stubborn to register to vote because, “Just one vote just will not make a difference.” I am far too frustrated with the entitled mindset of the Millennials that are my peers to allow this to continue.

We are the next generation. We are this generation. By the time we are thirty and (hopefully) established human beings, the decisions we made when we were twenty will be affecting our daily lives. Whether they be tax deductions, gas prices, or the effect on war, we must be assessing the consequences that come with everyday decisions, including the votes we make on our upcoming President in the 2016 presidential campaign.

To be oblivious of the frustratingly long fight of our forefathers that lobbied for American freedom is a disgrace to our country. And, furthermore, to be oblivious to those in refugee camps in Pakistan fighting for their civil rights, Saudi Arabian women fighting for their gendered rights, and take for granted the gift we are given as modern human beings in a twenty-first-century-world, is outrageous.

I am consistently floored by how often my peers take for granted the citizenship they so often disregard. In 2012, only 38% of 18-24 year olds were registered to vote in the United States according to the census.gov. This number is astonishing, and is, moreover, a higher percentage of young voters than the United States has had in prior years. How can we as Americans continue to allow this distasteful illiteracy of the history of our own country continue?

Whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent, we are all members of this great nation, formed for us in the elusive 1776. We must take the reigns of our diminishing nation, no matter our point of view, and decide once and for all what we believe is best, and then cast our vote to better the land we call the best one on Earth.

Please refer to https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote#item-37322 to find out how to register to vote.