On Wednesday, Nov. 7th, Hoban’s Student Government welcomed four new members: the freshman class representatives. The freshman class elected Sawyer Huckabee as class President; Rachel Alexander, Mia Gallagher and Olivia Scott gained the title of Vice Presidents—an astounding accomplishment. If you see any of them in the halls, make sure to congratulate them.

It was amazing to see all of the candidates speeches and hear about the amount of work they’ve put into their campaign. They truly want to make  a difference here at Hoban. As President, I couldn’t be prouder of the new freshmen reps and I think they’ll make us a better student council. They’ve taken their first step into high school government!

On Tuesday, Nov. 6th, just one day earlier, I took my first step into United States Government. I voted for the first time in the US midterm election. My day started early; I left my house for the polling station at 6:30 am. By 7:10 am, my first official ballot was filled out and submitted.

The act of voting was a brief experience, less than an hour, but one I enjoyed tremendously nonetheless. It isn’t hard to cast a vote, but it’s significantly harder to be an educated voter. As someone who was voting for the first time, I was especially careful to understand who and what I was voting for.

You hear it everywhere: one vote doesn’t matter; you can’t make a difference; why waste your time? My response is simple: voting is a learning experience from which we grow.

Setting aside whether or not an individual vote has any effect on the outcome of the election, the experience of casting a ballot and attempting to make my voice heard was exhilarating. I think I’ll grow from this experience; I know more about my community and who runs it; I’m beginning to understand not to take things at face value.

I don’t know if you, dear reader, care about politics, but I hope to be a lifelong voter; I think being so will help me to become a better person.