Election Day has come and gone, and votes are still being counted as we speak. While Joe Biden has been announced as the president elect by many news outlets, recounts will undoubtedly occur.
Voting has provided different kinds of experiences for everyone. Some experience emotion, like late-night show host John Oliver, who told fellow host Stephen Colbert in an interview that he “nearly burst into tears” while voting this year for the first time since gaining American citizenship. However, for other people, voting can prove rewarding. For me, I happen to fall into the latter category.
Going into this year, I wasn’t even aware that I had been registered to vote until I received a ballot in the mail. Then, I wasn’t even sure if, despite my status, I really wanted to vote. However, I began to see advertisements and commercials on TV urging everyone to vote (more so than previous years, might I add), as well as encouragement from my parents, and, eventually, I was convinced.
So I went to the North Merrick Public Library, filled out a ballot, and put it in the machine. It was official. I had voted for the first time. At the end of the day, it felt rewarding to me. Not just because I got a sticker saying “I Voted Today,” but, because I experienced voting. I got to discover and learn what it was like to vote in an election. This was specifically rewarding to me, because I knew that, with my valuable, newfound knowledge, I could use it to vote in future elections.
No longer do I have to ask people for help. Now, I can be someone who people go to for assistance in poll-casting. After this experience, I think that voting can be more than something you do for the heck of it. It can be something that, if you are doing it for the first time, like I did, you can do to gain experience, and learn what to do in the future, in case you want to choose who you want for office, not only for President, but, also, for other positions, like the Senate. Also, no matter who wins what position, you can tell everyone you know, “I voted for (insert name of person)”, and be happy and proud of your choice all the while.
So, at the end of the day, for me, I found reward in my voting experience because since I learned to cast my ballot, I now know how to do it and from now on, I don’t have to ask other people for assistance. If anything, first-time voters can ask me how to vote, and I can offer them help as well.
