The 2012 election is a crucial event for our generation — it will be the first time many of us will be able to vote. 

People in our generation are not used to keeping track of world events, myself included. Ignorance is a dangerous thing, but voter apathy is even more dangerous.

I often witness people adamantly proclaiming through social networking sites they won’t be voting because they don’t care about politics, which is extremely unnerving. It’s difficult for me to understand why young voters don’t believe they can make a difference in American politics. The 2008 election had the second largest youth voter turnout in American history.

Our generation is part of the Generation Y voting block, also known as the millennials. Generation Y is composed of individuals born between 1977 and 2001, totaling more than 75 million Americans. Obviously, our generation has the capacity to make a huge difference. Although the 2008 election had such a high youth voter turnout, youth voters still only counted for approximately 17 percent of the actual voting population. Without the support of the millennial generation, the 2008 election could have turned out much differently.

The fight for the right to vote has been fought for almost 100 years, especially for suffrage for African Americans and women. The right to vote is explicitly given in the amendments to the Constitution. Shouldn’t you want to respect your rights that have been fought for so long? Why the apathy?

After the 2008 election, the Census Bureau conducted a survey to understand the voter apathy issue. The most common reasons for not voting were lack of interest or dislike of the candidates or issues. Combined, these reasons account for more than 25 percent of registered nonvoters.

Personally, I don’t think lack of interest is a valid reason for choosing not to vote. Many of the hot-topic issues of this election such as foreign policy overshadow issues that directly affect and hold great importance to college students. Agendas such as student loan forgiveness and health care are examples of the things that college voters care about. I can’t think of a single student who is not stressed about student loans. The amount of these loans in America will soon top $1 trillion. Each candidate has a separate plan to solve this issue, and your vote will choose which one will go into place. That’s why our vote is so important.

Others claim the negativity of political ads turns them off from the election. Quite frankly, that’s the nature of politics, and we should all be used to it by now. The worst excuse I hear is: “Oh, I don’t like either of the two candidates running.” 

What about third party candidates? Ignorance and apathy like this come from a complete lack of research. Just because the media is focusing on the main Republican and Democratic candidates doesn’t mean you need to also. Nothing bad will come from opening a newspaper, magazine or a candidate’s campaign website. None of the candidates is perfect, so find the one you agree with most and stick with them.

No matter how many times I repeat myself or the media does or even your parents do, some people just won’t understand how crucial this election is. As much as I wish I could make you take half an hour out of your day to vote, I can’t. Take 15 minutes out of each day before the election and read the news or catch up on the campaign trail. Knowledge is power, and when Nov. 6 rolls around, you’ll be ready.