To be an American adult is a liberating feeling. But not liberating like when you receive your driver’s license. And not liberating in the same way as getting your first job. But liberating from the shackles of silence. 

Being a new voter on the scene of a tense election year is as close to an emotion I imagine skydivers feel: the sense of thrill and unease, and the excitement and adrenaline pounding through your veins. Unlike in prior years when others made decisions for me, this year I will deploy my own parachute. This year I will cast my own ballot. This year, I will vote. 

I have always held voting in high regard. When I learned about civic duties in eighth grade, it was almost as if I could feel John Locke and Charles Montesquieu handing me a baton to continue the race of democracy they began. To be involved in an act that has been shared amongst the Romans and the Greeks, to continue the historical and societal tradition of democracy, and to pass it down to others in the future, is a remarkable feeling. 

Though I haven’t stepped into the polls yet, I can already feel the overwhelming sense of community that voting brings. No matter your values or ideals, all voting adults are important individually and collectively. The feeling I have of being so small in the world ceases to exist when I vote. Instead, it is replaced by the warm embrace of American democracy, as I will be a part of something larger than myself, larger than my family, larger than my community. I will be part of America.