Growing up in my house, we didn’t talk about politics. I have lived through six elections and three, about to be four, presidents but my parents never divulged with me who they supported or voted for. I didn’t really find this odd as a child, chalking it up to the metaphorical “big mouth” my mother was always saying I had (the orthodontist says it’s actually quite small). I figured she would be embarrassed if I went around school telling everyone on the playground who she cast her vote for. Part of me assumed maybe it was because she always voted for the losing candidate and didn’t want that getting out. Regardless, it was a little frustrating as a child, because, at the time, to be politically active meant to participate in the conversations on the playground where everyone sort of blindly gabbed about what party their parents were a part of or who they voted for, and I could never contribute to those. But now, I am older and wiser and would like to say thank you to my parents for letting me form my own opinions.

I am thankful they never let political debates taint our dinner table, grateful they never pushed Republican or Democratic views down my throat, glad that they trusted me to form my own intelligent and intellectual views and stances on major issues. I am currently a liberal, Democrat-leaning independent. I am pro-choice, a feminist. I believe in affordable healthcare, reproductive rights and marriage equality and I proudly voted for Hillary in my first election last week, and my parents let me come to those decisions all by myself. At this point in my life, I couldn’t even tell you what party my parents are a part of. I had my first semi-political conversation with my parents the other day. It was mature and level-headed, but, though I could make my guesses, my parents still would not tell me outright. No one in my family really talks about politics at all, except for my millennial-age cousins and one distant relative of my grandmother’s who is a bit of a local political figure himself.

Although I have loved being allowed the freedom to form my own opinions, I see where the lack of political discussion in my house could have negatively affected me. I find that I tend to shy away from debates and topical discussions on current issues amongst my friend groups or in classes. My boyfriend is a very strong Republican and so I was wildly unprepared for the heated conversations we would have about the election. I was never the one interested in debate team or mock trials. There were some kids in my high school with very developed political opinions, but I took a little more time in taking my positions. But now I am very comfortable with my political identity, and I need to thank my parents for giving me the independence and confidence to do that. They never pressured me or pushed their views on me and almost completely avoided political jargon and election discussions to benefit me later as an adult. I am not sure if this was their original intent but, especially as a kid who turned eighteen during an election year, I am grateful for it.