Growing up, learning about the founding of the United States, my elementary-school self was in awe. Learning about all of the battles that our ancestors had fought, the American Revolution, the Civil War, for example, I learned that our founding fathers like George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson had strong beliefs in having a great country for their descendants. And just the mere thought of establishing a new country and government and keeping it running for hundreds of years is astounding; it was something the world had never seen before.

And now in the year of 2016, as much as I'd like to believe that we are at the top of our prime, I know that we're not. In America, there is still a lot of problems that have not been solved. Some people don't see that, but the other half sees it in their everyday lives.

There are still people who live in poverty. There is still violence in cities and neighborhoods. There is still prejudice, no matter where you go. Prejudice against women, African-Americans, Mexicans, Asians, and countless others. And now our country has now gotten to the point where a person who has said terrible things without any regard of consequence, can be deemed acceptable to be president of the United States.

How did we get to this point in our country?

All I can say is that when this year's Republican candidate said anything controversial, nobody in the Republican party, or anyone in general, has done anything to hold him accountable. There have been countless times when somebody could have stood up against him and taken action. Sure, there have been backers that have stepped down from supporting him, but no one has come forward to say, "This is not right. You are going to be held accountable for this."

Have any of you heard of this movie called The Dead Zone. It's based off of a Steven King novel and it starred Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen. It's about a man who wakes up from a coma and finds out that he can see a person's past, present, and future dies just by their touch. When he shakes hands with a popular politician running for state senator, he sees that in the future the politician becomes the U.S. president and orders a nuclear attack. To me, that's this election.

For the longest time, the ability to vote has been built up for so long that to see that this is the presidential election that I'm going to be voting for, is disappointing. That's the mildest word I could use to describe this election. Some of you might be saying: Well if you dislike this presidential race so much, why don't you not vote this year? And to that, I have to say: I can't sit this out. I can't stand by and not let my voice be heard.

So many people have fought, died, and advocated for the right to vote ever since this country was created, and I can't take that for granted. Remember how women couldn't vote until 1922? Remember how African-Americans couldn't vote until 1965? People fought long and hard so that their voices could be heard. I'm not going to let their efforts be in vain by not voting. And I believe everyone needs to exercise that right.

And that is why I am going to vote this year. I'm going to have my voice be heard, because a lot of women weren't able to for many years. I'm going to vote because I want speak for what I believe in. Everyone should vote this year, so that we as a country can pick up the pieces and help our country for the better.