I used to be one of you. I was one of you for a very long time, but then it all changed. My latest assignment in my crazy honors college writing class sparked a new idea.

I had to change an aspect of the government. It could be something little that only affects my town or something that affects the entire country. Being the average white, female, teenager I am, I had no ideas. I decided on my dad’s idea - proposing term limits for the supreme court. “I don’t care enough to change anything,” was thought over and over again, Nothing affects me.” But I was so wrong.

Everything affects me. Drinking age affects me. Freedom of the press affects me as I write this. The age to drive affects me. Whatever the government does affects me. And guess what? All the things I listed affect you too.

This assignment really got me thinking. Not only am I reading articles on establishing term limits for the supreme court, but I am learning so much more. In 2015, one-third of Americans voted yes to a question asking if they would be in favor of a 10-year term limit for the justices. This is something I might have to vote on and now I have all the information that I need for if it shows up on a ballet again.

However, it does not stop there. The government is a complex thing with checks and balances and branches and more. There are so many different parts that go into what we think would be the simplest decisions. It all goes back to fifth grade when I had to remember how a bill becomes a law. I had that song stuck in my head for weeks and yes I can sing it on command - the entire thing. Everyone needed to learn this song at one point. For most, it was the first interaction of how government works. Maybe you had to go more in depth, but that's where my investigation ended.

The government is a crazy thing. I now ask you to debate this. I ask you to think about how the government affects your day to day lives. You'd be surprised how much it truly does.