I Can Finally Vote!

The first time I went with my mom to the polls when I was in preschool, I knew I wanted to vote.

There was something intriguing about cueing in a long line to go to a computer and see choices for new rules and jobs that intrigued me. I for some reason didn’t mind waiting for almost an hour because, for some reason, it seemed to have some significance that I still didn’t quite understand. And the more I understood the vote, the more I was excited to be able to one day take part in it.

Eleven years ago, I followed the 2008 presidential election from nearly the start. I vividly remember watching the Obama/Clinton debates and hearing semblances of what would become the ACA in campaign speeches. I tuned into every single general election debate, whether on NPR, or on TV, but there was always something so elusive to being able to make that real difference: showing up to the polls on the first Tuesday of November and vote.

Ever since then, politics has always been an incessant part of my life, whether in discussions with my peers or writing about it here. All of my life, I would be active in conversations, more so than most of the adults around me, mainly due to the fact that I was jealous. I was jealous because I couldn’t vote. That elusive 18 seemed years and years away. I was sad I couldn’t have voted in the two most important elections of my life so far: 2016…