If you are like me, a college student who spends a lot of time on social media, you know that not many of us actually turn on the TV anymore. We hear it playing in the break room at our jobs or catch a glimpse of it walking into our dorm lobbies, but very few of us take the time to sit down and watch, ESPECIALLY if it is news. Turning on CNN or Fox is pretty repulsive to us now, mainly because we do not want to be bombarded with the inevitably long and drawn-out arguing coming from politicians and anchors sitting at a news desk. Between all the name-calling and personal jabs, it would almost be easier to just turn on a tacky diss track and call it good.

I have hated watching the news for the past couple of years for this very reason. I would usually be the last person to find out about something, because I would explicitly avoid the television. And while I knew I was being very ill-informed by not paying attention, I was perfectly contented in my ignorance, and I did not have a single problem with just lying back and letting the politicians hash it out, for quite some time.

Then this year happened.

I know that for many people, this year was the exact opposite of a wake-up call to start watching the news. Our recent election has made it very difficult to scroll without running into a massive political opinion battle around every turn. I have few friends, in fact, who completely deactivated every social media account just so they would not have to encounter the vast, angry opinions they found everywhere. I have a few more who have expressed to me that they will not go near a television for at least another month. Therefore, I completely understand why anyone would want to abandon ship now and climb back onboard when things have finally settled down. I will admit, I was planning to do just the same.

Halfway down, I realized something, though.

I am a part of a group of people that are supposed to be pursuing higher education- education that is meant to point me towards my future career and lead me to become a better citizen. How then can I claim that I am learning well, if I refuse to even look at what kind of people are running the country I live in? How can I say that I am going to be the change, if I do not know the history of those before me? This all might sound annoyingly cliché, but I have realized that if I cannot take the time to examine the current affairs of our nation, I have NO place to hold an opinion. That makes me reconsider.

That said, this is an open invitation to all the students and young adults who have been shying away from the newscasts lately. The bickering and unending debates that are taking place right now might seem daunting, but it is more than worth your time to pay attention. Pay attention now. Now is the time when stories come out and the truth is sought after and things are discovered about those we elected to hold office. You might not care at all about these proceedings, but if you have even an ounce of an opinion on who you want to represent America, then please listen. Right now, there is nothing that would benefit you more.