This year has been the most eventful and media-filled year for politics, especially with the presidential campaign. Ever since this last summer, while I was working at a corporate company, I saw that Trump was running for President and I thought that politics have become a complete joke. I grew up in a family that pretty much ignored any conversation on politics due to the fact that it truly is confrontational and that it causes anyone with an opinion to jump into the conversation - invited or not. To say this, is to explain that when I became an adult at eighteen years old I felt lost and certainly uninformed on the political system. When it came to politics, all I knew was that I was not a Republican and that I was definitely unsure what each party stood for. Seeing Donald Trump on that screen changed my activity in politics instantly.

So often this country gets angry at the results of the presidential campaign because whoever they wanted to win was the runner-up. More often than not, this is because of the lack of votes from young adults. According to the US Census Bureau, the amount of voters between the ages 18 through 24 have been consistently low since 1962. Moreover, they have not seen any movement in voter activity. This age demographic is a huge portion of voters and, unfortunately, most young adults like me are too focused on school and our future (selfish, yes, but important) that we forget about the bigger picture such as who our President is. As a side note, when I turned eighteen, Obama was re-elected. So, I felt as if my opinion really didn’t matter - at least, not for another four years. This is a commonly shared thought process by most young adults. We are so used to being talked down to by the generation before us and shifted to the side because we are “too busy” with young adult happenings and our own problems. The problems that we are dealing with are growing up in a hurry because we want to be taken seriously by the people older than us. Voting is viewed as a second priority, or even as something we will be doing later in life. It is always something that you can take care of later or that is never conversed about with us, because who would take us seriously?

But all of a sudden, during this campaign we become relevant. We must realize that although we are busy with our future, school, and other “adult tasks” our future includes the person who is running our country. Although this campaign has been shocking to say the least - with topics of conversations all the way to the list of candidates that have come and gone, or even stayed around too long - it shows us the importance of our voices and where our voices should be inserted. We have no place to complain about the ending of campaigns when there is voluntary omission of our vote. As young adults, we should be informed and participate in the happenings of our country. Before voting, obviously, there needs to be research and some serious contemplation on what matters to you. One of the best mediums I have seen that can help an individual be able to discover their real stances is a site named isidewith.com. This site has a semi-intensive quiz that goes in depth about the things you believe and leads you to the political party you more align with based off your beliefs. There are multiple stances on many different issues, but that should not scare you away from learning more about where you stand politically or even who you want to be your president. This site is a great way to discover what you find important and who will defend your stances. As young adults, we cannot stand idly by as our country changes. We still have so much life and voice to share and voting is a place where we should speak and share what matters to us. Don’t let people tell you your opinions aren’t valid and that voting is useless because it “won’t do anything” - your voice matters.