Election Night

2008 was the first election I voted in. I voted by absentee ballot from school, and only voted in the presidential election. I didn't even pay attention to the rest. Fast forward to election night, and I was on the phone with my best friend, probably crying about not having any friends, feeling homesick, etc. It was November of my freshman year and after the honeymoon period of my dream school wore off, I was starting to feel a little lost. I fell asleep around 10pm, and although my roommates tried to wake me up to celebrate the results, I slept like a rock through the night as my classmates and colleagues paraded through the city. Whoops.

Tonight, I'm on the west coast, which is making it much easier to stay awake for the results. This time around, I actually payed attention to more than just who my role models were voting for. This time around I'm feeling much more invested. This time around I'm sitting at work, watching three different news sites as they call various states seemingly at random. I'm looking at my twitter feed and my facebook newsfeed and reading my friends' reactions to just about every change.

I don't have a lot to say about the election. I feel like I should, though. I feel like this is something I should be able to talk about for hours, but I'm not. Although I paid more attention this time around, I still didn't do enough. I didn't pay enough attention to state and local elections, and I'm disappointed in myself for that. But above all, I'm proud of myself for pulling myself off the couch this morning, walking to the school down the street (in the strange and disconcerting 80 degree weather...) and casting my vote.