This year was my first time voting like so many young (and old) Americans. This was the election that everyone has said “your vote really matters.” The election where millennials have been both criticized and praised for their participation.
When I was younger and thinking about my first time voting, I never really pictured it going quite like this. You want to think that your first vote will be special and meaningful, but things don’t always go as planned. I definitely saw myself with an entirely different person. I mean, you want your first time to be with someone who cares about you, someone who wants you to be in good health, and working a job that helps you pay the bills, and more importantly, someone who hopes your friends and family have those same rights. But you can’t plan everything perfectly.
Sometimes it’s okay to settle. I mean, it’s not like I let a total a**hole take my first vote. But I have to say there were some definite nerves heading to that voting station, I mean I didn’t know if I was prepared enough (you can only get so much information online) and obviously I didn’t want to do anything wrong. Overall, I only made one mistake and that was having the wrong address on my voter registration, but once that got sorted out it was all smooth sailing.
I guess I just wish the situation had gone down a little differently. It felt like I was being pulled from two sides who didn’t really want me to be happy; they just wanted my vote! After countless arguments online and a few drunken ones in person, I just tried to go with the least dramatic path, and so I voted early. They gave me a little sticker and thanked me for showing up. You could say it was a little less than anti-climactic.