IMAGINE: You’re on a date, you’re talking to a potential love interest who you desperately want to impress. The conversation is great and you both seem really into one another. Existing as young adults, it's expected that you're supposed to engage in somewhat mature conversations when suddenly, you venture into uncharted territories: the world of politics. 

Overwhelmed, you realize you truly know nothing about political agendas, you don't know what the phrase "incumbent" means, and finally you failed to realize that elections were even next week. You begin flailing, your words  stumble and you transform from a once cool and collected human to a flustered and blubbering fool. 

This my friends, is not sexy.

Failing to establish your own perspective and emulating a lack of confidence in your own beliefs is actually quite the opposite of sexy. If you haven't realized this now, then you must understand that your words and your opinions are EVERYTHING. While good looks can give you a hand up in the world, education is a far more important component of your identity than one's physical appearance. 

With elections just around the corner, I can’t help but reflect on the sad fact that the majority of our generation will not be voting in the upcoming midterms. Dis-impassioned by politics, statistically we’ve heard time and time again that the Millennials are the least politically active generation. Honestly though, due to the limitless distractions that we have at our constant disposal - I don’t believe that our lack of involvement is of our own doing. 

Merely frustrated with large-scale corruption in politics, it seems as though our generation has been largely undereducated in regard to political activism. Fixing our perspectives as largely moderate, although political parties are relevant, it seems as though our views have become somewhat independent of our liberal and conservative forefathers.   

Although this fact negatively reflects our generation: this doesn’t have to be the case. In the digital age, having undefined political views is quite frankly inexcusable. Due to the amount of information that we have daily access to, it's vital that our generation educates itself on global as well as regional issues. If anything, NOW is the time to begin to formulate your own ideas and desires in this world. 

As college students, we are provided with the opportunity to finally engage with the “real world” and leave lasting impacts upon those that surround us. Shaping our futures, college is a largely enlightening experience as we are exposed to hundreds of humans who contribute to our understanding of the world and our future role in the world. Establishing and understanding one's own political views provides us with invaluable knowledge and will eventually provide us with the ability to bring around permanent changes in our evolving world. This week’s edition is entirely dedicated to politics, as it is vital for students on campuses across the nation to become more politically active.   

So here’s some advice, do yourself a favor, participate in some brain exercises and actually formulate a political opinion. In a world of constant communication, trust me when I say that having views and realizing your relevancy in the world is the definition of sexy. After reading through this week’s edition of the Odyssey I encourage all of our readers to define your political views, educate yourself on your personal beliefs and potentially even cast a vote on this upcoming November 4th!