In light of the election, I've stayed fairly quiet about who becomes our next president. Not because I don't have anything to say and not because I don't have an opinion on the matter, but simply because I didn't have anything substantial to say about any of the candidates, their views on different matters, or the election in general. I just didn't pay attention to it. And before you jump down my throat and tell me how un-American I am for not voting or really not acknowledging that there was even an election, I already feel bad, so I'll save you the trouble. Also, I know this isn't just a "me" problem, other people thought this way throughout the election as well.

I didn't vote, and it's a problem: but not for the reasons you would think.

I was never taught the weight or impact my vote could have.

While in high school they stress the importance of knowing how to find the circumference of a circle, they never stressed to me the importance and privilege of living in a country where I have the right to vote. Obviously, it was mentioned in history classes but never fully discussed in my own participation in Government class. So at 18 years old, when I could finally vote, I didn't. And sadly, repeated the same trend this time around.

I simply wasn't educated on the importance of democracy.

We live in a country where we have rights that other countries don't have and we are lucky enough to not be run over by some tyrant in a radical situation, and I am educated enough to appreciate that liberty. However, nobody ever took the time to explain just how important democracy is. Knowing how many Supreme Court Justices there are has little to do with knowing how our government works, down to its core. How the electoral college works has little to do with how many seats in Congress there are. The wrong aspects of democracy were stressed on me.

I didn't pay attention.

This one is on me. I live in a household where we don't all gather around the television to watch the presidential debate and half the time there was a debate on, I was either working or studying. So the election didn't really become a part of my daily life until about a week ago. Sad, I know. It's extremely difficult to pay attention to something you know little about and have little interest in (also sad, I'm aware).

Politics do not interest me in the slightest.

I might actually dislike politics more than I dislike math, which is a lot for those who don't know me. Growing up where you hear that politicians are liars and you see things that need to be changed and aren't getting done puts a sour taste for politics in my mouth. The things that the government wants to be involved in (for example, abortion) just seem like overkill to me. Politics don't belong in every little thing that we as Americans do and yet, somehow it does.

My apologies.

To those who somehow find it offensive that I didn't vote, to those who posted on Facebook that people who didn't vote were "un-American" and "don't deserve to be citizens", I apologize. But would you rather have made me make an uneducated vote for someone that half of you wouldn't have agreed with anyway? So spare me. And to those who will vote in our future (including me), get educated even if nobody else puts the time and effort into educating you about it.

Being able to vote is a pretty big deal and not a lot of people around the world get to do it. So get educated, I'll see you at the polls in another 4 years!