This past November history was made. . . sort of.  The historical reality of Hillary Clinton as the first female major party nominee for the Democratic Party and Donald Trump being the first Presidential Candidate to campaign for the office without holding any prior offices within the United States government were noteworthy events to have taken place, but something even more troubling occurred. Something that we students at George Ranch had an impact upon.

We voted. And we voted the wrong way.

Color wheel voting is described as the action of making a voting decision based off of the opinions of others around you and specifically pertains to the bi-partisan nature of the U.S. government. Simply put, voting based off of the color of the party.

I asked 30 students who were registered voters and had previously voted, their decision between the candidates available and their reasoning and 27 of them responded with,” My parents raised me to be Republican/Democrat, so that’s my decision”.

Close-ups of the two primary candidates for the 2016 presidential election.

The simple idea that we would throw away our choice because we haven’t developed our own opinion is unimaginably destructive. The only way to vote is to vote with understanding. When you take a political stance based on the opinions of those around you, you as an individual lose a part of your identity and lose your voice among a crowd of peer pressure.

The  greatest way to perform our civic duty as voters and citizens of the United States is to take interest in our own government. Being an educated voter may only take 20 extra minutes a day to read news reports and articles that can impact your future. During this process you’ll get a better understanding of who your candidates are and their policies.

Having this knowledge can allow you to make your own opinion based off of your core values. Allowing you to go to the polls with the purpose of choosing the best future for our country, whatever that may be.