I, as a youth in the 21st century, have the privilege of living in a society where we have many freedoms. One of those freedoms is to have the right to vote for what I believe is right. I may vote for the laws that I agree with and vote against those that I dislike. I will have the right to choose my own senators, representatives, vice president, and president. Why does all of this matter? Is not the Electoral College more significant than the popular vote? Isn't it true that one's vote does not directly count? Perhaps, yes. But the fact that I will one day vote means much more to me. My vote symbolizes my freedom and my duty to be a participant in the great country in which I live.

The United States, as a democracy, has given the right to all Americans to have the ability to become a participant in a great nation. If I do not vote, that liberty that my founding fathers worked long and hard for will be meaningless. A ballot in a box represents so much more than what we see on paper. That ballot spells out what men fought and died for and are still doing to this day. That ballot symbolizes what it truly means to be an American living in the land of the free. When one does not vote, he is throwing away American values. Putting an X in a box is not a tedious job that simply wastes ten minutes of one's time; it shows that he is honored to have the freedoms that he has been granted.

I will vote to represent pride in my country and to show that I know what my freedoms mean to me. I will vote because of what so many others did in the name of freedom. My vote will mean more to me than just a mark on a piece of paper. My vote will symbolize what living in the United States of America is all about: taking pride in why we are different, because we have freedom.