A while back I wrote a piece on the presidential campaign as it was just beginning. Little did I know that the country would face one of its biggest and possibly one of the most historical presidential campaigns in history.

So, coming back as the first time voter, where do I stand?

1. At a historical crossroads

Now, more than ever, there have been so many vocal supporters--and not only in the rallies and primaries, but on social media and in everyday life. The spread of this democratic voice has been resonating everywhere in the form of Tumblr posts, Facebook rants, and the infamous uses of GIFs and memes. It has been mesmerizing, even for me, and I simply can’t believe how many people have become so vocal over these mediums. Sure, I can turn off Facebook notifications, or just log off for a little while, but there always seems to be another racist Trump supporter clobbering a protester on a cell phone video, or frenetic voter counts that people and media left and right seem to barrage at someone like custard pies at a clowns face.

Image from NY Times

Also, look at the tighter race! From the first time I thought Trump was an absolute joke candidate, and I had my eye closely watching serious candidates like Bush, Christie, Rubio, and Cruz. Now that the race has gotten a lot tighter, I think that many of the disparate views in the beginning have now solidified into what the American public sees as very low or very high quality. From my experience from both the democratic and republican side, many are starting to see Hillary’s flip-flopping with her comments, while the younger millennial generations are starting to back Bernie because of his forward thinking logic; Trump has become more fiery, sexist, racist, ignorant and just plain stupid with his comments, earning him an A+ in American embarrassment. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz has become colder and more calculating with his comments, imitating Trumps manner in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. John Kasich seems like the only non-threatening character left in this race, although time will tell if he too will begin to adopt louder language, or drop out completely

2. Under a political barrage of words

There is literally a huge barrage of words that carry loaded political sentiments. It’s like every candidate carried a super soaker and shot it at everyone with their political juice. From Bernie and Hillary to Trump and Cruz, and even those who aren’t even remotely connected to the race like ISIL and former Mexican presidents, everyone speaks up and has their opinions to say about the presidential race. Comedians like John Oliver to Speaker Paul Ryan to former Mexican president Vicente Fox and even Jimmy Carter’s feud with Ted Cruz, everyone seems to have an opinion. This should be normal, but in retrospect, it seems that the only way to gain attention and garner more voters nowadays is to basically appeal to the lowest voter and work up from there. I, as a first-time voter, want some clear policy plans, and not just general statements and promises that are sugar-coated for rousing cheers.

3. Within a smoke of political crossfire.

What about the candidates reactions to different crises happening domestically and internationally? Well, for starters, most of the candidates have brushed over on the topic of the Flint, MI water crisis. They are barely going over a couple of the key issues, but not pragmatically engaging the situation. I would totally help out a candidate if they took part in making a huge difference, but unfortunately, this isn’t the best time to only have some strong words to help out. Also, candidates have now become harder on their immigration ideas after the Brussels terror attacks. Cruz supporting the surveillance of Muslim communities in the US, Trump becoming louder than ever about immigration in general, and the democrats taking a neutral stance, emphasizing they will still take pro-immigrant measures when it comes to actually bringing in and keeping immigrants. However, my eyes are still on how the candidates will address the issues that are relevant to me and a lot of us: college tuition, health care, and job security.