I got super into politics this year, partly because I had just turned 18 (I could finally vote!), and partly because of the candidates. I was an avid Bernie Sanders supporter, but when he was unable to clinch the Democratic nomination, I had to figure out what was next. Who could I possibly vote for?

With everything I had uncovered about Hillary Clinton, from emails and her paid speeches to the videos of her saying one thing and recently saying something different, there was definitely no way I could vote her. I couldn’t count on her promises, and definitely couldn’t count on Donald Trump’s either. Seriously, as a woman, there is no way I’d ever vote for him. So, I looked elsewhere.

Ah, yes. The dreaded third party. Right before I headed back here to Vermont, I filled out my absentee ballot for Jill Stein, the presidential nominee for the Green Party. She had the closest platform to Bernie’s, and she was also the kind of woman I wanted to see in office. There was no way I could ever vote simply because “I have some obligation to stop Donald Trump.” The whole scheme of democracy is voting for whoever you want; that’s what our country shadows our government to be (even though it realistically is a plutocracy).

Now, I’m not going to try to convince anyone to vote for Jill Stein. It’s pretty late in the game to switch anyone over. But, a lot of people tried to scare me into voting for our two party system. It became a strategy to scare for the future instead of trying to persuade me with change for the future. Everyone told me: “you’re just using your vote as a protest vote because you wanted Bernie to win,” “you just shouldn’t vote at all if who you want isn’t on the ballot,” “vote for the lesser of two evils” and “if you vote third party, you’re just giving the election away to Trump.”

Now, it’s been three weeks since I’ve voted, and I’ve noticed some things: the world did not end because I voted third-party, the sky did not crash down on us because I voted third party and my life is still amazing in spite of me voting third party. I didn’t vote third party because it was a protest vote. I literally did what I was supposed to do. “Vote for the candidate you think will bring the most change to our nation,” said the ballot. “Okay,” said me.

The two party system has locked Americans into believing that you must believe in these things to be democratic and in these things to be republican. Likewise, the two party system has gridlocked our Congress into passing any laws or even electing a new justice for the Supreme Court. The two party system doesn’t allow us to make any changes because the GOP believes that democrats are hell spawns, and the democrats believe republicans are hell spawns.

Voting for the lesser of two evils, to me, is still voting for evil. Voting for Hillary simply because I don't want Trump in office does not mean I support Hillary or her platform. Not voting for Hillary because I'm a woman does not make me sexist, or mean that I am trying to stop the speed of feminism. Voting third party does not mean I hand the election over to Donald Trump.

What it does mean is that I voted the way I wanted to vote. I voted for the change I wanted to see in office because the Green Party has a really great platform for the things I care about. Third party candidates only need five percent of the national vote to receive federal funding for their campaigns. This means that third party candidates in the future will be able to start ahead of the game, hopefully building more traction in dismantling our two party system. Because in all honesty, the two party system doesn't represent everyone in the way it should.