On Sept. 14, thousands of Democrats gathered in a balloon field in Indianola, Iowa, to celebrate the annual Harkin Steak Fry. This year was the 37th steak fry hosted by the Harkins, and it was also the last one they will ever have. Sen. Tom Harkin is retiring.

I was lucky enough to go to the Harkin Steak Fry. I was not raised a Democrat, but it is not everyday that you get to hear many great people speaking in one place. Tom and Ruth Harkin as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton were the main speakers of the day, and Democrats from far and wide came to hear them speak. 

While sitting in the audience of the steak fry, it dawned on me that a few years ago, I would not even know what the steak fry was about or possibly even who Harkin was. I do not mean that last phrase in any offense toward Harkin, but when I was a younger student, I did not care as much about politics as I do now.

Many students on this campus have the same mentality as I once did. Why did it matter if I were to go to the steak fry? I wasn’t going to make a difference — I didn’t even know what was going on. I was incorrect. We are incorrect.

Student voting matters now as much as it has in the past. We have the ability to make monumental changes. Everything from voting for the local city council members to voting for the next president of the United States comes down to a decision that we make on a ballot.

Rock the Vote is an organization that aims at getting students interested in politics by incorporating music and concerts with the voting experience. It is just one of the organizations that realizes that young people need to take advantage of the opportunities they have available, especially when it comes to taking action on the future and what the government in this country is going to look like. 

We have grown up thinking that politics was something that we didn’t have to worry about. After all, we were just kids — why would we need to be thinking about politics? Well fellow students, the times have changed, and with the United States making changes across the board, from education to foreign policy, we need to be able to understand and make decisions on a political level. 

It was a great experience to be able to see a U.S. senator, a former president and many candidates running for political office speak at the Harkin Steak Fry. I left that day not only with a sunburn, but with new insight on the issues that the democratic party cared about.

It is time for us to rise up and get involved with taking control of our futures. Learning about candidates and what they have to offer is going to help us make a more educated decision come voting day. We will eventually be the leaders of this country. It is time we started taking charge of our beliefs and making a difference in the U.S. government.