Exercising my civic duty was such a thrill. I looked through the ballot three times to make sure I filled in the bubbles correctly. I had butterflies in my stomach the whole time! The funniest thing has to be when I asked if they had markers at the booths and the person said yes. But when I went to an open spot I stood there panicked for 30 seconds which felt like an hour, darting my eyes around the entire cubicle, looking for a felt tip pen. It was white and I finally found it lying along the edge. I liked that there were lights and the booth was very bright, but the cord was in my way and left a weird shadow on my ballot. All minuscule things I am just jotting down for the sake of jotting them down. Voting for the first time will be a story I will tell for a while.
Most importantly, I feel so excited that I made a stamp on history. When the election results were in and they tallied up the votes and announced the next President of the United States, I knew I was a part in making that decision. I let my voice be heard. I stood up for what I believed in and voted for the candidate that spoke to my values as an American citizen. I voted for the person who I believe is most qualified to run this nation.
I salute all our founding fathers and all those who fought in the Revolutionary War, as Americans declared their independence. I applaud every soldier, every troop, who has fought in subsequent wars and served this country to uphold the justice it was founded on. I bow my head to every person who risks their lives to protect the rights of American citizens. To the firefighters, the policemen, the troops, the founding fathers, thank you. Thank you for working to protect our rights.
Above all, I have to say thank you to my parents. Who sacrificed everything to bring me to America. To this land of opportunity. They worked hard to give me this. To give me comfort and security and stability. It is today when I feel so proud of my parents and of my country. Thanks to them, I was able to exercise my right to vote, my right to elect officials who will have a severe impact on this country, my right to choose which types of things we amend to our constitution. My right to be heard.
I am so proud to be an American. I realize how blessed I am, how blessed we all are to be able to live here. Sometimes we take it for granted, but this country gives us so much. We have so many freedoms here, so many opportunities, such economic stability.
I know right now, we are in a financial crisis. I know our country is divided on many things. I know the war in Iraq divides many people. I know several people dislike our current President, both American citizens and by other nations.
But I also know that we have the strength to conquer this divide. Look at everything we have been through. The American spirit is not a weak one. We can do this. We will rise up from our challenges and prosper once again. I know if we all work together we can resolve many of the issues that plague us.
Election day was a day to rejoice. A day to realize how fortunate we are to raise our voices, step into a polling place conveniently near us open all day, and be confronted by people who help and answer questions, and if you went to a cool place, maybe even walk away with a cookie.
God bless the U.S.A.
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