While everyone is sharing their opinions on the results of this years election, whether they are optimistic or hateful, I am a little disappointed and it is not about the results. Every teacher I had always emphasized how important it is for us to vote for our president, to pay attention to the "political world," and to take interest early in the presidential debates. I had everything I needed to make sure I knew who to vote for on Election Day, or so I thought. I made a list of things of things I wish I knew before going in to submit my vote.

There is no such thing as a booth with a curtain for privacy when filling out the ballot.

Everyone says that you get the opportunity to vote in private. Therefore you're not obligated to vote for anyone you don't want to. No one can see your results but you, and only you. Walking into my designated place to vote, I had this idea in my head that I would be waiting in line to enter a booth with a curtain. Sort of like the dressing rooms you go into at the store to try on clothes in private. What I walked into was a room full of fold-up tables with limited amount of space between each other with dividers on top. Which, let me add made me cringe by bringing back memories of taking tests in fourth grade. They look like someone took the top and bottom off a cardboard box and ripped one side of it off and placed it on the table. Not to mention, any time someone walked by and created wind, they would either open or close. They screamed, "TA-DA! Privacy created the cheapest way possible so you can make the decision of who will be the next President of the United States."

The ballot is HUGE.

This so called, "simple" ballot they hand you to fill out is gigantic. I expected them to hand me a piece of paper in a manila folder. Boy was I wrong, This paper was thicker than card stock and at least two feet long. I take this poster they call a ballot and sit down at my cardboard cubical, put the ballot on the table to find out the space provided was too small to fit the entire ballot on the table. I/m not talking about only a few inches hung off the table, NO. Approximately a little less than half of it was hanging off. I know what you're thinking, just push your divider back. I tried and the person on the other side of the table pushed it back; clearly none of us had enough space.

You are not just voting for who will be the next President.

I take one look at this ballot and my eyes get wide. Expecting to vote for one thing and finding out you're voting on much more is not very welcoming. I am not the kind of person who is comfortable voting for people I have never heard of. Voting for who will be President is important but not everything that leader does will have an impact on your daily life. The people who we vote for that will, are the City Council Members, or the Mayor of the city you live in. Media focuses all their attention on the top position rather than the positions below it.

Receiving your "I Voted" sticker is not that fun.

For this being my first time voting, I was excited to take advantage of my rights and vote. I was excited to put my thoughts in and to have an impact. I turned my ballot in and the lady who was running the machine, which I may add, volunteered for the job, looked at me with a fowl look. I had to ask her if I could have one which she did but not very happily. I know it's not that big of a deal, but I like fun stuff. Who wouldn't love a free sticker?!

I walked in feeling prepared and in control. I left feeling misguided, unprepared, and quite disappointed. You would think they would put less effort into creating such a big ballot that is so thin a permanent marker won't bleed through into something a little more effective. Maybe the respect and RIGHT to have privacy while voting. The ballot was so big it defeated the purpose of having a divider. The tables were so close that walking by to an open spot you were guaranteed to glance at one's ballot whether you wanted to or not. The biggest problem I noticed was not knowing who the people were on the ballot. I know it is my responsibility to do my research, but the media focused only on the Presidential election that it lead me to believe that's was the only thing I was voting for. What the President chooses to do while he serves his four-year term will affect your life but not have nearly as large an impact as the leaders for the community at which you live in. So, while others are out there figuring out what to do with Trump being elected President, I will be doing my research about the leaders in my community who have been elected to win. After all, they are the ones who will impact my daily life.