My father’s a big advocate in people having their right to vote. That’s why he always gets frustrated and confused with people who don’t think their time is worth wasting on a vote. My father always goes back to the same metaphor when we talk about politics. He compares the voter to a caged bird. The trainers slowly show the bird how to survive on its own until finally opening the cage and laying it in an open field. A majority of the birds will be scared of the new world they’ve been thrown into, or expect the caretakers to still be there for them. Those birds will never leave their cage and perish inside them. Only those who actually leave the cage and explore the field will be able to survive and flourish alongside it.

 Until I turn 18 I’m shown and told the world of politics, but don’t get to participate. Once I’m let go and free to make our my choices I’ll be able to take our future by the horns and decide what to make of it. If I don’t take advantage of this new right, that so many have fought for, than the most dire issues facing my generation and I today will never be confronted. 

My father’s been pushing me to leave my cage from a young age and think for myself, I hope to make him proud by doing so this upcoming election. Many people won’t leave their cage this year however and we need to do something about it. A quote I’ve always remembered is that of St. Teresa. St. Teresa stated “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop”. Just as each drop changed the ocean, each vote changes your country, and your future. Many young people feel their vote doesn’t matter and it’s the job of the government and candidates to let them know it can make a world of difference.