November 6th, election night. While I should have been studying for my Chemistry exam in a couple of days, I could not peel my eyes away from the New York Times election results counter. I watched anxiously for my state of Kentucky, and I watched the maps for the federal House of Representatives, the state's House of Representatives, the state's Senate, I watched them all turn red.

I furiously called my mom, a retired school teacher, to vent my frustrations to her. This past year has been a minefield for teachers in Kentucky, with a bill tacking on public school teachers' retirement, to a sewage waste (literally) bill being passed haphazardly through Kentucky's Congress. She told me something I heard far too often growing up, "Kentucky will always be a red state."

Beyond party colors and lines, no state should ever be a red or a blue state. Every state should know what is best for it, and with this, the colors should be flexible, constantly changing.

Just like the states, people should know what is best for them and their communities, which means not picking a candidate based on their political affiliation.

I'm guilty as well. I colored in my absentee ballot box of "Straight Democratic Party" absentmindedly, before I made myself research the candidates better.

Kentucky historically has always been a red state; however, the congressmen (I would say women but there's so few of them here) who are part of this red affiliation for Kentucky are definitely not doing what is best for the Commonwealth.

Between the teachers' pension, to the fact that about 1 in 3 black men can't vote ever again, or to the Senate Majority Leader of the nation trying to rip away health care coverage from a large percentage of rural Kentuckians, Kentucky has many issues that the Republicans in Congress either do not care about, or are trying to fix in all the wrong ways.

The worst part of my election night though was when a tweet popped up on my timeline:

This tweet encompasses too many attitudes in America; the attitude of "well if it doesn't affect me, it doesn't matter." Not only is it not true though, but it is very ignorant to those whose lives are made political from the day they are born-- whether it is the color of the skin, the country they were born in, or who they love.

Elections are important, as well as who wins them. Large parts of every single person's life are affected every day by politics, whether or not you know it.

Every road you drive on, every piece of public transportation, every public teacher and police officer you meet, every part of the environment, every right you have; all of it is made available and can be taken away, by the government, and who is in charge of it

Elections are so important.

The people who are put into office are meant to represent you and your community, and the problems you all may face. I have never been as disgusted as when I met with one Congressman (who just got re-elected to the federal House of Representatives), Thomas Massie (R-KY). I met with him in his office in Washington D.C. with a few other college-age students from Kentucky, his state. We tried to talk to him about immigration; however, he interrupted a girl speaking by saying something I will never forget, "Look, I don't really care about that because my voters don't care about that."

I, a very voter in his district, definitely did not vote for him.

This is the kind of semantics that has turned people away from politics, and I understand why. The atmosphere is toxic and hateful, but that is exactly why we have to do something about it.

The next election cycle is only in two years, and with it being the presidential election, it will definitely be a big one. I encourage you, despite if you know anything about politics, to just learn a little every week or so about the politics in your community, or better, to become an active member in it.

You don't have to run for a political office to be in politics; you just have to care to find the place you are needed.