Before I begin, I would like to offer a warning that this article you are reading will be opinionated, and as honest as possible. I ask you to leave your previous beliefs behind and continue reading with an open mind.

As Millennials we have been told for years that the future is in our hands and the fate of our planet and society is completely up to us. That is a lot of pressure for my 21 year old self, but holds some truth, especially in the realm of politics.

I shudder whenever anyone brings up politics and our current state of presidential candidates, but I decided to no longer shy away from voicing my opinion for fear of having to confront the opposite party. In the past couple of decades, and more recently the past couple of year’s, politics has split our country in half. Instead of Americans it seems that we let the political parties define us as Democrats or Republicans who can no longer get along and work together to create a better society for us all. We refuse to vote outside of our party and close off our minds when someone on the opposite side has an opinion to share. Because they are Right or Left we must disagree with them. Even if we hate our parties’ nominee we will vote for him/her because I am proud to be an (insert political side here)! Whatever happened to just being proud to be an American?

Last summer Bernie Sanders came to my town to speak and there were hushed whispers in the streets that this would be the man to change our country around for the better. I wasn’t aware of his political stance at the time and I was and am still registered as an Independent. I went into the speech with open ears, eyes and mind and was completely blown away. I felt as though he was touching on topics that I had been concerned about for years, and even better it was obvious he was speaking right from his heart, not from the hearts of big money. I did everything I could as a Bernie fan girl. I bought his pins, I signed petitions, I joined the email list, I donated, and even attempted to talk him up with friends and family. For the first time ever that I could remember, I was truly excited about a presidential candidate and politics in general.

Almost a year later the day came when Sanders lost the nomination to Hillary Clinton and endorsed her soon after. I’ll be the first to admit that I was angry, befuddled and sad. How could Bernie endorse someone who went against so much of what he stood for from the start? I vowed to never vote for Hillary and to not vote at all if it meant I couldn’t get my way. It was soon clear that many other Sanders fans felt the same way and made a violent ruckus at the Democratic National Convention. They were letting their anger get in the way of having an open mind when listening to the countries’ first ever female nominee. I took a step back, a deep breath and truly though about the situation. What was really bringing many of the democrats together was the hatred and fear that accompanied Hillary’s running mate Donald Trump. Sure, this term we really do have slim pickings when it comes to a president, but that doesn’t mean we should give up our right to vote so quickly. Clinton has vowed to take on many of Sanders values when going forward and she has hundreds of thousands of Bernie fans watching her every move and making sure she keeps her word.

I won’t pull a Sarah Silverman and accuse all the angry Bernie supporters that they are “being ridiculous," but I will say that no vote at all is a vote for the opposite party and do we all really want to have to keep our promise about moving out of the country if Trump becomes president? Probably not.

Although we couldn’t have it all this election when it came to Bernie Sanders and his promises for a better country, we are taking a big step in the right direction. Sanders wasn’t supposed to get as far as he did, yet he surprised everyone by coming very close. The United States is now more open for change than ever and even more American people are aware of the corruption happening behind closed doors than ever before. Even though we couldn’t have it our way this election, I am still proud to call myself an American and will use my right to vote as proof that I am able to swallow my pride, tuck my tail between my legs and help elect the first female president into office, because the alternative would be so much worse.