This year’s election is extremely important to me for two reasons. First, I am old enough and educated well enough to make a decision I think is best for our country, and second, I am absolutely terrified that Donald Trump will be our next president.

After taking Political Science 101 at the University, I was inspired to learn more about the candidates in this election, especially because I believe it is important for me to vote this year. My professor, who did an admirable job teaching American politics, was unbiased throughout the whole term. He never took sides during discussions about the Democratic and Republican debates, but there was one thing that he stressed: Donald Trump was not qualified to run this country.

I spoke with many adults in and outside of my family, I noticed a lot of them were in support of Trump. The most common reasons for supporting Trump, I noticed were, “You won’t understand because you have not lived as long as I have”, and “He is saying what everybody else is thinking”. I noticed that people want change because they are scared; they want a Republican in the House instead of a Democrat, and they want a businessman instead of a politician. But, I could only ask myself, how are these reasons plausible?

I asked myself how anyone could support a man that will be destroying everything this country has worked for, including racial and gender equality. How could anyone support a man who has no empathy towards immigrants who have built a life here and wants to force them out of a country that is free? His idea is to build a wall along the southern border of the country to keep immigrants out, expecting Mexico to pay for all of it, which is a perfect example of how most of his positions on issues are close to impossible to put into action. Trump is resorting to violence and war to handle foreign issues. He claims that he will "quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS", and he also disapproves of the Iran Deal which is our best chance for promoting peace. He has made statements about dating his daughter and spoke about women in a degrading manner. How can you take someone seriously who insists the Chinese fabricated the idea of global warming when 97% of climate scientists say it is man made? He has offended millions of people in this country and has plans that go against the American Constitution. Our Constitution was designed to avoid people like Trump in the political system. Can you sit back and imagine what this country would look like if a man like Trump was in charge of decision-making?

How does one take a look at Donald Trump’s campaign site, Twitter page, or listen to his debates and not cringe? Trump supporters rave about his lack of political correctness, and how it has been needed in this country for a while. But, it’s not his lack of his political correctness that is disturbing to me; it’s his inability to even attempt to be a decent human being.

I have been told my whole life how important it is to vote, how the right to vote is something that I should cherish and hold on to. I can see now why I’ve been told this. Our future is at stake, my children’s futures will be affected, and the thought of what America would look like with Donald Trump in the White House is frightening.