On June 1920, the 19^th Amendment guaranteed women to vote. I exercised my right to vote for the first time on October 20^th, 2016.

Why did I vote early? You might be wondering. I’m from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico and I can say it was difficult to register to vote at first. I tried to register around three times and got frightened because I thought I could not vote.

My social security number was rejected those three times. In the Memorial Union, you could vote early, I decided to go ahead and try to register once again. Having in mind I was going to vote without a doubt.

I went and registered once more, denied. I got an email saying that I could vote just by showing my Puerto Rican license. With that said, I decided to go back and try once again; I did not surrender. The first thing a lady asked me in the Memorial Union: “Are you a U.S citizen?” First, I said I was Puerto Rican and second, Puerto Rico has been a U.S territory since March 2, 1917. Can you guess my answer?

After all this struggle, I was afraid that the day of the elections I would not be able to vote because of my Puerto Rican license. In order to assure that I voted, I went and voted early. I felt chills as soon as I got my ballot, first time voting and for the President of the United States of America not my island, Puerto Rico.

It is an honor to be able to votes in the states. Now, I don’t have to worry about not being able to vote the day of the elections and wait with anxiety.

I voted, now I have to wait and see who will be the next President of the United States of America.