Now that the elections are over, it is an important time to understand what is happening.

It has been more than two weeks since the 2014 midterm elections, and it’s still something that needs to be talked about. The Republican Party currently controls both the House and the Senate, meaning Congress is solely controlled by the GOP.

This election wasn’t any different than the past six election cycles. When a president has served two consecutive terms, the midterm election of his second term has always flipped to being controlled by the opposite party.

In her lecture Nov. 13, Mara Liasson of National Public Radio says it’s been that way ever since President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939.

Liasson also mentioned 2014 was the worst voter turnout in 72 years. Nearly two-thirds of Americans did not vote this midterm. I’m ashamed to say many of those who stayed home were college students. The college-age voter only made up 13 percent of voters this year. That’s almost a third less than students who voted in 2012.

By not voting, it shows the rest of the voters that we seemingly don’t care about what happens around us. As college students in Iowa, we may have the most responsibilities to know what needs to be changed and who we need to vote for in order for that change to occur.

For us to know what needs to be changed, we have to know what has happened. We need to measure the good versus the bad and prioritize what needs to be done so our country can grow.

Since the Republicans have seized control of Congress, Republican representative Paul Ryan’s plan to cut $90 million from the Pell Grant program could come into effect. This would mean low-income students may not be eligible for the amount of financial aid they otherwise would receive from colleges around the nation. This could lead to college students not being able to complete their educations.

This should be a huge issue in the collegiate realm and should have been talked about more prior to the 2014 midterm election. By cutting back on the Pell Grant program, college attendance levels will suffer.

On the other hand, Sen. Mike Lee from Utah will be able to push forward his HERO Act, allowing more students to have the ability to gain federal student aid when looking for on-the-job training and internships. With the dramatic rise in college tuition rates, any bill that allows students the ability to gain more financial aid opportunities must be a priority.

Locally, newly-elected Sen. Joni Ernst is a supporter of Pell Grants but believes the Department of Education is not doing what it needs to do. She’s a firm supporter of giving control of education to local governments and getting rid of the Department of Education altogether.

As the 2016 presidential campaigns begin, students need to focus more on the candidates who can help them gain financial security through their collegiate careers as well as other issues that matter to them.

I strongly recommend that students start looking into possible candidates with whom they can identify and who they would support in these upcoming races.

Sure, there still seems like a lot of time left before the next election, and I understand the world of politics is not necessarily an entertaining one, but we must begin to pay attention to our future and the future of this country.

In Liasson’s lecture, she identified who the possible front runners might be in the 2016 presidential campaigns. For the Republicans, we can look at Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas and Sen. Rand Paul from Kentucky. Both candidates seem to endorse a more locally centered form of education, taking it out of the hands of federal government.

On the Democratic side there is only one name that stands out: Hillary.

Former New York senator, first lady and secretary of state, Hillary Clinton is the favorite for the Democrats going into 2016. Clinton may already have a campaign in waiting, which would allow her to step right in and assume the role of the Democratic presidential candidate, Liasson said.

We are in college to procure a future for ourselves, inside and outside of the classroom. That means we need to take more responsibilities for the society around us. I encourage you to sign out of Netflix, Facebook, Twitter or whatever else you do in your free time and dive into the political world for a few moments. It doesn’t take too long to pay a little more attention to the world around you.