I had always had a fear of voting. May sound strange, but it just is.

My fear of voting stemmed from not knowing who the candidates were and what so many of the political terms meant. I had no idea what Democratic, Republican, Green Party, etc. meant and even when I put effort into learning about them I got bored and confused.

I also avoided polls simply because I made assumptions that it was chaotic. I thought lines would be out the door just to vote. I was pretty much wrong when I went to vote today; it only took me five minutes to vote.

I also thought the whole voting process would be hard. I thought the voting ballot would be hard to understand. But today they gave me a sample to look at so I could practice how to do it.

The point I am trying to get to is, is that I got the motivation to go and vote and all of my assumptions about voting turned out to be mostly false. However, I only got more of a push to vote through a coworker of mine, who really made me realize why my vote is important.

I just moved from NY to PA, so I did not think I was registered in time to vote, as I also forgot that I had to be registered in PA as I have moved to a new state. My coworker is a bit into politics and she was more than willing to help me get registered in time so I can vote. Although I was hesitant, I let her help me register. She printed out all the forms I needed and even gave me step by step instructions on how to register.

I was still hesitant to send it in but I did. After all of the effort, my coworker went through to help me register, I knew it would only be fair of me to vote for her. It was not only important to her but it had become important to me as she explained why I should vote. She made realize that the future is in our hands and we have the power to change the future for who we put in charge.

To be honest, I thought this was cheesy at first. But then after listening to her, I realized that she was right. So I started looking into who was running and who's values matched more of my values. I will be honest to say I was already leaning more towards democratic (As just from learning in school, they seem to be more for the people). I also did not go so in-depth into reading about each candidate's goals. However, I did briefly skim each candidate's goals for the future, which helped me make my decision.

I will not reveal if I voted democratic, republican, etc. but what I will say is that I would not have been to vote without the help of my coworker who encouraged me that my voice really could make a difference. My coworker also brought along her friend who is also another coworker of ours and they picked me up and came with me to support me while I voted for the first time.

I was really confused and nervous, to be honest, but it, of course, ended up not being scary at all. There was no line, and everyone working there was super helpful in giving me information on how to vote. And it all took less than 5 minutes. My coworkers guided me as well, showing me on the sample ballot how to vote. I will say my coworkers tried to persuade me sometimes to learn more towards their political side, but I was eager to use my own voice to pick who I wanted. However, I will say that my coworkers information of the candidates did help me vote a bit, even if it was a little biased. They helped explain each party to me, so I was grateful for that.

So I voted, put the ballot in a machine, and I officially realized that I voted for the first time! I not only got a sticker but I even got candy too! At first, I did not feel at all special, but then I realized that I contributed to history and maybe making a positive impact on the future. It felt Awesome!

So with the help of my coworkers, I was able to vote for the first time ever, and get over my fear. Now I look forward to voting in the future for my country.

I encourage anyone who needs help voting, there are always people willing to help! Don't be scared like me!