The first time I voted, I felt like the most politically involved badass that ever walked the earth. I think this is pretty common for those first setting foot in the voting booth. Anyone who remembers the first time voting will know what it feels like, and for those of you who are hitting the polls for the first time next week, get ready to feel both influential and awesome.
It just so happened my 18th birthday fell around a month before the elections, and I was stoked. When I was about 12, I checked to make sure I would get to vote the year I turned 18. That is how excited I was.
Despite the fact that it was just a statewide election that I now know contained nothing of consequence on the ballot, I was ready to change the world with my one vote. However, being slightly nervous and not wanting to soil the pristine political process with my naïveté, I asked the two most politically savvy people I knew to accompany me to the polls: my grandparents.
As I exited their car and marched proudly up to the building where I was to cast my first vote, I suddenly panicked. My grandfather asked me under which political party I would be registering.
I did not know. I felt this would brand me forever. I knew what people said about all the political parties, and I was terrified what it would mean if I chose the “wrong” party. It seriously does not matter with which party you are affiliated as far as I am concerned. As long as you are voting for what you believe in, I say good for you.
As I nervously walked into the small classroom that had been converted into a voting facility, I made a snap decision and committed forevermore to one political party. It was a big step, but I felt good about it. The nice old ladies at the registration table helped me fill out the paperwork, and then it was time. I stepped into the booth and began selecting the men and women whom I had so diligently researched. I could not contain the excitement I was feeling, and as I stepped triumphantly out of that voting box, I knew I had done my duty to my country. I felt awesome, and my patriotism was rewarded with ice cream courtesy of my super-cool grandparents.
So, while I acknowledge that voting is not the most convenient activity, it is important. All of you who like to complain on Twitter and Facebook, this is your time to shine. Those of you who scream at the debates because you hate what one candidate says, channel that rage straight into the voting booth. My point is, go vote. Because I can guarantee you from personal experience, you will truly feel like you have, in some small way, changed the world.
