As a freshman, over the past week I was strongly urged by staff and senior members of Quinnipiac University to voice my opinion in a way that would make a difference. by actually going to class! I was also urged to vote in the SGA elections (a much less important decision). I say much less important because, quite frankly, I don’t think it mattered who I voted for. Despite trying quite hard, I could not find anything out about the candidates running for president, vice president, or representative unless I saw them intoxicated at a party, not to say, of course, that I did see any of them intoxicated at a party. That doesn’t mean that I did not care about the election itself.
At the beginning of the week, I decided to follow the advice of beloved rapper P. Diddy (a trustworthy source) who coined the phrase “Vote or Die.” Valuing my life, I concluded that I was going to vote and needed to learn about the candidates running.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if all of the candidates running for every position had signed a vow of secrecy not to release any information about themselves unless faced with extreme peril.like being sat on by a Yale football player. There were no speeches made, no public forums or debates, not even a listing of their positions on certain topics.
“So how am I supposed to vote?” Luckily, this thought came to me the Saturday before voting and, with the Alabama football team taking on Vanderbilt, my mind quickly replaced that worrisome notion with new thoughts about Alabama’s running game that are unfit for print.
Nevertheless, when the weekend ended, I still hadn’t decided how to vote for the candidates I wanted to represent me for the remainder of the year. Thus I realized I desperately needed to find alternative voting methods.
At first, I concluded that I would vote for the best-looking people, considering that’s the method most of America currently utilizes anyway.
Conversely, I decided that I didn’t want to be a trend follower, instead considering other unusual voting methods. I could vote for only people whose last names ended in vowels. I considered only punching-in representatives who shared first names with my family members (Uncle Manny would surely be proud). I thought about voting for candidates whose names had three or more syllables. Embarrassingly, I even gave some thought to only voting for girls with cute names (actually, at the time, that one sounded best).
You may conclude that my voting methods are foolish, unusual, and eccentric. Furthermore, you may conclude that I am foolish, unusual, and eccentric. In that assumption, you are most likely correct. Nonetheless, cut me slack. What other basis was I supposed to use when voting? Wait, there was no other basis to use when voting.
When no information is given about candidates other than their names and cute, cookie-cutter posters, I can’t be expected to make an informed decision or any kind of decision at all. So, I chose not to vote, an atrocious act I shared with most students I talked with throughout the week.
As a freshman, the past week I was strongly urged by staff and senior members of Quinnipiac University to voice my opinion in a way that would make a difference. I just did.
