With such an important election coming up, my generation is being put on the spot. It's now time to stand up and learn about what it is that we want to see change in our country. Much too often we follow the opinions of our peers regardless of what we personally believe. It's time to put an end to that though. It is our job to take the time to learn what each candidate brings to the table and figure out for ourselves what it is that appeals to us.

When I first started looking at the candidates for this election, I couldn't help but laugh and refuse to vote, as I'm sure many other people did as well. It seems like there was no optimal candidate to vote for that would be beneficial for the country in any way. However, for most of my generation, this is our first opportunity to vote and the idea of missing that experience seemed outrageous to me. Most adults remember who was running in the election when they got to vote for the first time and they remember who they voted for too. I want to be able to have that experience to tell my children too.

That's when I decided that I had no choice but to filter through the candidates, watch their speeches, browse their debates and do the research until I found the candidate that I best agreed with. I felt like I had done the work behind it and I was ready to cast an educated vote for the person who, in my own opinion, was the best suited to run this country and make a difference. It was devastating to me when my first choice dropped out of the race and seemed to leave behind the three people I would never dream of letting control the United States of America.

Since that first choice dropped out, I still don't have a single candidate that I want to be the president, but it just feels like choosing between bad or worse. However, I'm thankful that I have an opinion on that nonetheless. I feel like the majority of this generation is ignorant to the severe problems that are accompanied by the candidate that they believe is the best choice. At our age it is so easy to either jump on the band wagon and vote with the person that all of our friends support or to simply omit our votes from the election entirely.

It just seems so wrong to me that people take their ability to vote for granted. To take a second to stop and think about how much history went into the decision to turn this country into a democracy that gives the people a chance to vote for the person they agree with the most; young adults seem so ignorant to this privilege. Voting isn't a right, it's a privilege. Just because neither primary candidate seems like the 100% right choice doesn't mean that your vote doesn't matter. It means it only matters more. If it comes right down to the wire, your vote will have more of an impact than you'd believe. Each vote counts, including yours.

During this election season, it's important that all new voters take the time to get registered as well as take the time to put in some research to decide on a candidate that meets one's own personal beliefs, not just the belief of our friends and potentially the masses. Take the time to learn about the decision we can make that will decide the fate of our beloved country. We are the future. The future is in our hands. It's time to take our opinions and turn them into a reality by casting our vote now.