Editor’s Note: Earlier this month, The University of Washington Daily newsaper solicited submissions for an essay contest responding to the prompt: “Propose a way to encourage and stimulate the 18- to 25-year-old generation to vote.” Senior Nathan Buxbaum, a 2005 graduate of Newport High School, was the winner.
Why Vote?
Because ‘y’ is the 4th of July.
And the third of May, seventh of January.
Because ‘y’ makes up Wyoming, New York and Pennsylvania.
And Ypsilanti, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio; Yuma, Arizona and Yakima, Washington
Because you need the letter ‘y’ for yourself.
Vote for Yourself.
How many times have you heard something along the lines of ‘vote because people have fought and died so you can have the right to vote; so you can have that privilege.’ Can there be any more of a just reason? But don’t vote because of that.
Don’t vote because men have fought and died; vote so people will not have to fight and die anymore.
Vote for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Vote for the Florida Everglades. Vote for the Olympic Forest or the Puget Sound or the Arboretum.
Vote so your parents can retire.
Vote so our generation can finally have a voice.
Vote for Hurricane Katrina.
But don’t just vote for the past, vote for the future.
Vote so a woman can be president someday.
Vote so a Black or Latino or Asian person can be president someday.
Vote so you can be president someday.
Vote for family.
Vote for your great-great-grandfather who came across the Atlantic in the bowels of a steam ship with nothing more then a dream.
Vote for your great-great-grandmother who worked as a maid in a hotel to provide her children a better future.
Vote for your grandparents who survived and prospered through a depression and two world wars.
Vote for your parents who have supported and encouraged and provided for you.
Vote for all the different stories that make us who we are.
Vote for all the different stories that make us all American.
Vote so other generations can’t blame us anymore for not participating.
Vote to switch priorities, vote for values.
Vote for all the individuals who dedicated their lives to create and perfect this union.
Don’t just vote for George Washington though, or Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln.
Don’t just vote for Susan B. Anthony or Rosa Parks.
Don’t just vote for Dr. Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy.
Don’t just vote for these Americans who shaped, inspired and transformed this nation.
Vote for your little sister; or your younger cousin; or your baby nephew.
Vote for U.S. Army Sgt. Alfred Osorio or U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Allan Triplett or all the other men and women currently serving in Iraq.
Vote for Fadl Ibrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Gomaa Ali, who won political asylum in the United States after fleeing the Darfur region of Sudan following the murder of their families.
But don’t just vote for them too.
Vote for yourself.
Vote not because you have to, but because you get to.
Vote for education.
Vote for ethos, pathos and logos.
Vote so textbooks can be affordable. Vote so college can be affordable.
Vote so teachers can finally make a decent living.
There are hundreds of excuses to not participate in an election but you only need one reason to vote.
Vote for purpose. Vote for pride.
Vote so alternative energy sources will someday become primary sources of energy.
Vote for wind power. Vote for an oil-free future.
Vote because your vote counts as much as any other person in this country.
But don’t just vote because you are a U.S. citizen.
Vote because we are endowed with certain unalienable rights: Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And freedom of speech.
And the right to vote.
Vote for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Vote to reaffirm this 232-year experiment in democracy.
Let’s prove all the cynics in the world wrong that the United States is still the greatest country on Earth.
Vote for somebody, anybody.
You shouldn’t need 1,000 words or 1,000 reasons to vote.
There’s only one.
You.
Vote.
