Campaigns are well underway and there are many qualified candidates for the upcoming presidential election in 2016. Being educated on these candidate's platforms before taking to the polls is a citizen's obligation to this nation so that our next round of leaders are carefully chosen and are ready to implement change where it's needed.
Over the years of transitioning from grade school to high school, and eventually winding up in the heart of America for my college education, I realized that those adult conversations I tuned out when I was younger turned out to have some important substance to them (who would've thought). Some of these conversations ended up being about politics and opinions of politics and opinions of people involved in politics and even more opinions of which some may have been totally understandable and some not so much.
But the truth of the matter is that we college-aged students are the next group of adults awaiting to have these conversations over dinner, in an airplane, during our graduate classes, or in a co-worker's office. I believe it's important for everyone to be independent in their opinions so that they aren't influenced by anyone around them and that they are truly knowledgeable about issues.
Unfortunately, to a vast majority of people, the topic of politics and government happenings is not the most appealing. To some, it might be easy to watch an episode of E! News rather than watching national or local news to find out whats happening around them. However, if you are one of those people who follows C-SPAN on Twitter, watched the news every so often, or if you don't live under a rock, you’d probably know that 2016 is the presidential election year, and that campaign talk has begun, and that maybe it’s a sign for us to start getting more educated.
Being a young college student, this is the first election that I, and many others, will be eligible to vote for. Unfortunately, voting has taken a toll in recent history involving us "Generation Y" aged people. According to whitehouse.gov, millennials (those born in the 1980s to the mid-2000s) represent one third of the entire United States of America. We have the power to sway elections if all of those eligible actually make it to the polls. People in this generation have gone through the rise in popularity of the Internet and social media and the recession, but for some reason we cannot show up on election day to pick the next round of our nation's leaders.
Dr. Sharon Jarvis states,"The legitimacy of our democracy depends on turnout. We do not have a legitimate, stable system unless citizens participate."
The statistics may seem boring or unnecessary, but they need to be an eye-opener for our generation. We have to be willing to put forth the effort to change something if our opinions tend to sway strongly about an issue or a politician or the betterment of our country in general.
It’s hard to stay informed and on top of what’s happening in D.C. when there is so much happening on a day to day basis, and not enough motivation to stay educated and informed. But if we don’t pay at least a little bit of attention, especially in the upcoming election, new voters will cast their ballots based on if the candidate has an “R” or “D” after their name, and not be mindful as to where that certain person stands on pressing issues. And there are plenty of qualified candidates in both parties so then what would happen? A choosing game of who has the coolest last name to put on a bumper sticker?
I have nothing but high hopes and expectations for my generation. I see friends taking huge, life-changing internships, cousins with successful jobs out of college, and younger people eager to learn new things. The year 2016 is a monumental year for our already feeble government, and it is our obligation to educate ourselves before voting day so we know where we stand on the future of our government. It may be boring to read political articles that explain the candidates in more depth, or watch campaign speeches every now and again, but you will be satisfied in knowing that your vote meant more than just a random tally to a candidate you may know nothing about.
