By the time this article is published the first round of the 2018 Malian election would have taken place, and hopefully, a new leader has assumed power.

This will be my first time voting EVER and I'm excited but nervous of the outcome because the country is already on the brink with all that's going on and the last thing it needs is someone with ideas that'll push this country to the edge.

This election cycle has shown me how much I've been oblivious to what exactly has been taking place in this country. I haven't been to Mali psychically in about ten years so I rarely kept up with the politics until the coup that took place in 2012. This sparked an epiphany along with other Malians in which we began to question the government that was there to protect its people.

This moment uncovered an abundance of corruption that was taking place forever but sparked a fight in the people against their self-indulging government, this also pushed me into finding my majors and interest politics domestically and internationally.

For the past couple of months, I have watched my dad and his friends rally to get people to go out and to get people to get their voting cards, also to vote for a specific candidate: Cheick Modibo Diarra.

In this election there are 24 presidential candidates running with a population of 18 million meanwhile there are only 8 million registered voters at this moment.

Watching all of this go down this summer has shown me that not all people in power have the interest of their citizens in mind it's all about the profit.

Corruption has dragged this country to the ground and it's time for that to end because the people are suffering endlessly. By the time you read this article hopefully someone has taken power who is interested in the people and with unselfish motives nor is power hungry.