With Election Day less than a month away, I asked a sampling of my Freshmen college students whether they had registered to vote or not. We are preparing to write an essay on how to define what an American is, and I wanted to stress that suffrage, one of the bedrocks of citizenry, is not only a right but a responsibility. I came across a quote from Michelle Obama about voting and it went something like, you don’t let your elders choose your music or your clothes, why would you let them choose your future? And this struck me as so realistic, as there are too many young people who have become not only apathetic about what the country is going through, but more than likely, ignorant of it. Many feel either helpless to change anything, or that between their college classes, their jobs, their friends, and their relationships, they feel that world issues are an “adult thing,” and even though they may be eighteen or twenty or more, it’s something for old people to worry about.

Ah, youth. There really is nothing like it. And I tell them constantly to get their face out out their phones and instead of become digital zombies, go out there and eat life. You’re young, everything works. your bones don’t ache, and you can stay up all night. I know I did. But I also went to take a look at my high school records on the day I turned eighteen, simply because as an adult, I knew I could. And because I couldn’t wait to swallow adulthood whole, I also registered to vote. I couldn’t wait to affect change, I wanted to be fully-functioning member of society, I wanted to be part of the process. I wanted to matter.

You could, too, if you haven’t already. Go here and register to vote, and let them know you’re a force to be reckoned with. And you’re watching.