How it feels voting for the first time

Having a small responsibility in the history books

Today I was woken to a text of my little brother going to vote with my father. It reminded me that eight years ago I, myself, went to the polls with my dad and watched, for my first time, my father cast his vote. As I pulled down the lever of his voting machine, I realized that I in the smallest possible way had made a difference.

Now, eight years later I am going for the first time to cast my own vote. It is one of the most interesting, complex, and wild elections yet, and I am so excited to be abel to take part in it. My experience going to the polls has opened up my eyes on a few major things.

Getting to the polling places is not easy

Cornell offers services to and from the polling booths, but of course, I decided to walk to my polling place, not realizing it was two miles away. Luckily, I was able to get a ride back. But it made me realize that for people who don’t have cars or are unable to get easily get to polling places, voting is a huge chunk of time to devote in one’s day.

The other races

I realized right before I voted that I was not just voting for the President, but also for the senate, congress, and numerous other organizations.

It’s like a test

Filling in the bubbles on the sheet that was given to me made me feel like I was back taking my SAT (a little PTSD). I had to triple check to make sure my bubbles were correct and then I got stressed that I colored to far outside the bubble.

Overall, voting for my first time was an exhilarating experience. I know I live in New York, a place where people say your vote doesn’t matter, but after voting I felt as if on some level I was helping to make history. I don’t know how the election will pan out, I can only hope, but I know that no matter how it does, I will feel like I had a small responsibility in the history books.

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