If you have had a television on recently, you may have noticed different political ads airing. In case you didn't know, there are elections taking place on Nov. 8. The ads airing in Virginia seem to be on everything from jokes to slamming the other opponent.

Whether you are Republican or Democrat, this midterm election will determine what party (either Democrat or Republican) will take control of the Senate, which will greatly affect what pieces of legislation will be passed and how legislation can affect the citizens of the United States.

To be honest, voting can be tedious. If you are registered in Virginia you generally have to take time out your day to go somewhere to vote or if you are an out of state kid like me you have a strict timeline for registering to vote via absentee ballot. While it can be challenging to vote, it is a crucial right as an American citizen that we should all participate in. Besides the fact that so many people have died and fought (both in wars and social movements) for the right for all to vote, we actually have the chance to really make a difference. We have the chance to impact the whole Senate. Regardless of what political affiliation you hold, you want your party to succeed and this is the chance to really make that happen.

It is important to note that just because we aren't selecting a President this year, midterm elections still hold a ton of power. It can somewhat act as a predictor as to who may run for President; it can be a predictor of what party may win the Presidency. Midterm elections almost act as a poll for us citizens; we get to see where our politicians currently stand on issues and define what issues mean the most to us.

As college students, we are concerned with things like student loan rates, the economy and unemployment. While these are hot issues in our political sphere, we actually get the chance to change them. Louis L'Armour once said, "To make democracy work, we must be a notion of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote, does not have the right to complain."

I completely understand that making the effort to go out and vote can be hard and tedious but it really is beneficial to you and the effort should be made to go.

Also, who doesn't want an "I Voted" sticker?