Election Day in America, like every year, takes place the first Tuesday after November 1st and a new group of people are able to vote this year.

“This will be my first year voting,” Caelyn Les, 2018, said. “I’m so excited to be able to participate in decision making for our country.”

Les is a freshman at college majoring in political sciences, so she has always had a special interest in politics, making voting a very personal topic to her.

“I’ve always hated confrontation and political debates, but I do have a lot of opinions on politics,” Zoe Shedlick, 2019, said. “Voting gives me the room to express my beliefs and thoughts through methods that I feel comfortable with. Voting allows for me to have a new level of freedom in my life that I have never experienced before.”

Despite her dislike for politics, she has always wanted to express herself and voting makes it possible.

“I’ve never been overly interested or invested in politics,” Hailey Steen, 2019, said. “I do follow my local and the national politics and I know how important it is to vote. Voting is one of the best freedoms we have in America.”

Many Americans think that not voting is wasting the hard work members of the military put into fighting for United States’ freedom.

“Our entire nation is built on freedom of every kind,” Les said. “If we ignore our responsibilities to our country, our rights become limited and with limited rights, we’re defeating the purpose of our country.”

Just like in any other aspect of anyone’s life, with more freedom comes more responsibility. To represent true freedom, every person who can should fulfill their duty to vote.

“We are a very lucky country. Other people don’t have a government as good as ours,” Shedlick said. “While America isn’t perfect, we do represent the entire free world and voting is such an important aspect to our freedom.”

Shedlick has spent much of her life traveling around the world with her parent’s jobs. She’s seen much of the world that isn’t as well off as America is and she really values her freedom.

“Countless people have died for this country and for our freedom,” Steen said. “Don’t throw their lives away by simply not voting.”