Congratulations, you voted, and now it’s up to the lawyers to decide who won. Some of us are glad it’s over and couldn’t have asked for Election Day to come any sooner. The constant barrage of political advertisements, newspaper articles and the battle for voters seems to be ending.

For others, we won’t know what to do with ourselves after the election.

Endless hours spent making phone calls, sending out mailings, handing out literature and convincing friends which candidates they should vote for all seem to be ending as well. Hopefully. No more phone calls from Leonardo DiCaprio. “Yes, I am registered at my current address” will become a phrase of the past.

I apologize for those hoping it was over, but, in reality, it is just beginning. Civic involvement is not only for election years. Now that you have voted, the time has come to join in a new movement. It’s called activism, and it’s not just for the leftists or the right-wingers; it’s for everyone.

May I kindly remind everyone that voting is not the whole package, but just a note in the symphony of democracy? College students have learned the hard way about being lazy about civic involvement as we have watched our tuition increase faster than Bobby Knight’s blood pressure.

It is a perfect time to become involved if you aren’t already. If you have been active with an organization, continue to help. More projects are on the way, such as fighting the lawmakers about a number of issues, including our tuition increases.

It’s very easy — especially now after basically giving up on classes and dedicating ourselves full time to this election — to stop and return to our easy lives as college students. It’s amazing to think that we were frighteningly busy before this democracy stuff, with class, work and our friends, but we managed to add several more hours of work to our load and still survive. We didn’t explode or self-destruct.

Now what do we do with all this extra time we managed to pack into our already busy schedules? The answer is a simple one: Stay involved. Nov. 3 is not a day of rest; it is the platform to begin your civic involvement.

Older people have been begging us for years to be involved with local governments and councils. Those of us involved are called student leaders, and “go-getters.” Everyone should be involved, and those who are labeled leaders have articles written about them in their hometown newspapers.

These leaders are the ones who get elected to student governments and go on to serve civic duties. They are the leaders who get all the credit for work everyone should be doing. Yes, of course, there will always be a few who go far beyond normal expectations and garner deserved attention like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Paulo Freire.

Many groups have been working diligently to recruit new activists and further their cause. The Republicans and the Democrats have mobilized large followings to help reach voters. The Iowa Public Interest Research Group’s New Voters Project, a nonpartisan effort, has seen amazing success in registering voters, recruiting volunteers and early voting.

What’s most exciting, however, is that PIRG might be sticking around long enough to help us fight our tuition increases and textbook prices.

We have started a new era this election year. We have mobilized one of the most energetic demographics. But now, after the election, it is even more crucial to stay involved.

We can have an even larger effect on local issues now that the focus is off the presidential elections. The potential for change, the potential for bettering our world, is enormous.

The time is now. Keep on keeping on.