Last weekend was the beginning of my fall break from school, so I went home for a couple of days. While I was home, I decided to vote early at the courthouse in my town so that I didn't have to absentee vote from school. To me, it made the most sense. All in all, voting in my first election was a rather quick process... well, the actual voting part was quick. The process leading up to it, however, was long and tedious. I won't go into it now, however, because I'm positive that everyone who is reading this has been right there with me throughout the entire campaign cycle.

For me, voting in my first general election was sort of underwhelming. I spent the first 18 years of my life waiting to be old enough to vote, and the reality definitely did not live up to the hype. It was a quick in-and-out deal that I spent months preparing for by watching debates, reading articles, and trying to reconcile the fact that my ideal candidate simply would not be president.

That isn't to say that I'm not reasonably satisfied with who I voted for. I'll admit that there definitely wasn't a perfect candidate, but there was only one who I could even consider voting for in this election once the candidates were finalized. Even if I'd been unable to decide on a presidential candidate, however, I still would have voted so that I could at least attempt to have a say in Congress as well as state and local offices, as those affect me more directly than whoever becomes POTUS does, anyway.

Overall, as underwhelmed as I was by voting in my first general election, I'm still happy that I did it. This election was even more important to me than I ever could have imagined my first would be, as I am genuinely invested in the outcome for various reasons. I'm glad that I got to be a part of the election process, as I've always seen it as a rite of passage that means you're actually an adult. Knowing that my opinion mattered even fractionally is a cool feeling, too. That being said, no matter who you support, please VOTE, whether on November 8th or early like I did.