18 AGAIN!

The fact that I work part time on a college campus affords me the opportunity to get to know many 18-22 year olds. Many of them voted in a presidential election for the first time on November 4 2008.  I was very impressed with the length that some of my students went to inform themselves. Some of them even got involved with some of the campaigns. The enthusiasm expressed by them in this political season was something that was great to see. It actually for a second made me wish I was 18 again.  Before we go any further let me just state that I have no desire to go back to a time where I had no money, no car, and no job. I can honestly say the time I am living in right now is the happiest time of my life. Having said that I can’t help but recall what I felt the first time I voted.

 

I was raised to take voting very seriously. My parents are very informed citizens who consider it their duty to vote. They stressed to both me and my sister never to take this right for granted. They stressed to me the importance of performing this duty. They always pointed out to me the sacrifices that others had made so that I would have the right to vote. My parents would talk politics to me and my sister at the dinner table on many occasions.

 

About a month after I got to Rutgers University, there was a voter registration drive in the dining hall. I registered to vote in the city of New Brunswick. I remember the excitement I had. It was enthralling to know that I was going to be a part of this thing that was bigger then myself. This thing that I heard my parents arguing about at the dinner table. This thing that was all around me, on TV, in newspapers, in magazines, and on radio. I could finally get to do this thing that impacted nearly every area of my life. I would finally get to participate in this thing which I was forced to only observe for so many years.

 

I was a little disappointed that most of my peers didn't really seem to care. A significant number of them wanted no part of the political process at all. At best they were indifferent at worst they were outraged by the whole process. I remember feeling a little upset and mostly disappointed. I remember thinking "I wonder if Martin Luther King thought that this voting thing really didn’t matter." I wonder what Alice Paul would say if she found out that she was thrown in jail and force fed though a tube so that 80 years later most people would stay home from the polls just because it was raining. I resolved that I would vote even if it were an inconvenience. I would vote even if it was raining. I would vote even if my vote didn’t really count. I would even vote if none of the candidates were worthy of my vote. I decided that I could not let all the people who gave their lives so I could vote die for NOTHING.

 

With a renewed sense of commitment I went to a few speeches about people in government. I researched the candidates running for the congressional district that New Brunswick was a part of. On Election Day I walked to the Sacred Heart on Suydam Street and voted. I got home to find out that 80% of the people eligible to vote let the day pass without voting (the forecast that day was for rain). That night I felt like an outsider in the sense that I felt that most around me failed to see the things that I saw.

 

This presidential election was something VERY different. This election I saw groups of my students who stayed home on Friday night to watch a debate. Everywhere I went I heard people talking about their country and what course it should take. I was very happy to see how many new voters were in this election. How many were excited to cast their ballot for the first time. How many people stood in line for hours to vote. How many people thought they had a stake in this country and how everyone believed on some level that their vote could effect change.

 

I never stopped voting. I have voted in almost every election I have been eligible for (the exception being a few school board elections that I was out of town for). I never stopped believing that my vote mattered. I never stopped believing an individual could make a difference. I never stopped believing that people could unite and make their voices heard. I never stopped believing that this process was worth the effort. This election I was happy not because I did what I do every first Tuesday in November but because I had A LOT OF COMPANY!!!

 

This is the atmosphere I would have liked my first election to have been. I was very happy getting text messages from friends as results came in on Election Day. I was very happy to see the enthusiasm for one of the things that truly makes this country great. I wish that my first election would have been something like the one that my students took part in for the first time.

 

My only wish now is that this involvement continues. I would hate to see people slip back into the grips of political apathy. I hope people continue to inform themselves and to stay involved with the political process. Government works best when the people we elect are held accountable for their actions. The only way they can be held accountable is by having an informed active electorate. I hope that in the future voter turn out continues to increase. I hope that people continue to take the steps necessary to inform themselves.

 

SO I would like to thank everyone who voted in this election. Even if you didn’t vote for the guy I did. Thank you for giving me the sense that Americans do realize how precious the gift of self governance is. Thank you for not making me feel like an outsider on this Election Day. Thank you for giving me the sense that everyone around me sees what I see. With all its problems America can be what it is suppose to be if we all work at it. Thank you for reaffirming that those people who fought and struggled and died did it for a something that was worth while.

 

ALL THIS ENTHUSIAM IS MAKING ME FEEL LIKE I AM 18 AGAIN!!!!!