I Voted, Will You?

This past year, I turned 18 in Washington, DC, and I voted.

If there was one thing I realized this past year living in the Capital, it was the growing realization of how much we are all growing up. We are concerned about getting jobs, not only after we graduate, but also now while we are in college. We are worried about how quickly our weekly expenses are adding up. We are doing our best to save our environmental resources, but it doesn't seem to be nearly enough. Food and gas is emptying our wallets. We have friends and family going to war. The more we look at the world around us, the more these issues are becoming real for all of us.

Politics and history and economics and any of these abstract terms can sound boring, until they are happening to you. The older we get, the more we have to face adult problems, adult issues - because sooner or later we have to face it, we are all becoming the adults. In a few years, we will all be completely in control of our own lives and responsible for the choices we make. For now we can have faith that we will have the knowledge and information to make the right choices, or we can do what we can to educate ourselves about the issues.

And more so, we can educate ourselves on the people who will be making decisions about those issues for us. Now that I am 18, I am taking responsibility - because for the first time in my life, I have a say in who is in that Oval Office or any other office deciding the most important aspects of my life. They will decide if I am drafted to go to war, who I can and cannot marry, and how as a whole we can help the environment. I am the youngest of all my friends and this year I was the last one to turn 18. But when the primary came around, I knew it was my time to have a say. This fall, I will once again exercise my power to choose.

This year's election is probably the most historic election we will ever have the opportunity to be a part of. We are young, and that has power in itself. But not only are we young, we are creative, original, innovative and strong. We have voices and opinions that command respect. And for the first time in history, young voters are a key demographic to winning this race, which means, we have a say, and it is any politician's job and goal to appeal to our interests.

We have the power and we hold that power in the ballots we cast. Register to vote so that we all can wield that power, together.