BY NATHANIEL DELGADO
It’s at times like these that we look at the state of our nation and wonder, “how’d we get here?”It’s also at times like these that we need to remind ourselves that it is up to us to determine how this nation prevails.
We are the future of America. 
It has never been as important as it is now to vote. From the question of taxation to the race for a vaccine for this monster of a pandemic, and of utmost importance, to the protests regarding the death of numerous Black peoples such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, we are all left with the same inquiry: what do we do now?
The solution takes a profusion of research and the overcoming of many political adversities to achieve the design of the nation we want. So, why waste time and even bother? There are multiple reasons for this.
For some of us, we are complacent with the nation that we are living in today. We often believe that things are out of our control — why rouse the nation when nothing good will come out of it? Well, that’s where a lot of us are simply wrong. The majority of these issues are not to be dealt with on the political battlefield; they are in our own towns. This past summer, a protest was held on June 7 in Collinsville, and it gained strong support from the townspeople here in Canton. Many Americans fought in their own ways,  whether it be making change happen through reforms or even through influence.
Another reason is simply that we are exercising a right that multiple of us take for granted. According to a recent study, there are up to 100 million Americans who have the ability to vote, but simply don’t.
Nonetheless, many people are motivated to vote for a variety of reasons.
Dave Higgins, 42, of Meriden said that he is voting because he feels like it is very important who is going to be the next President of the United State. “It is our American right and we should take it very seriously,” Mr. Higgins said. “Other votes in other countries aren’t as valued by their governments.” He looks forward to future generations steering this country in the right course. 
New voters are also motivated to exercise their right to cast a ballot. DJ Smith, 27, of Clinton said that he was going to vote “because he can.” He made it clear that he was going to vote to appreciate his rights and he encouraged others to do the same, because “it’s their right.”
Still, some voters feel their vote won’t change anything. Alexis Canals, 26, of New Haven said she does not plan to vote, because “We are doomed either way,” and she believes both candidates are “terrible.” Even though she is a registered voter, she won’t vote this year. To the people who can’t decide on whether or not to vote, she tells them “good luck.”
To put it simply, many vote and some don’t. We all have our reasons why and why not, but there will always be the question: how do we make this country better than it was yesterday? Is this what the Founding Fathers intended? How would they see America today? All I can say here is keep the news balanced, wake up, get up, get out there, and vote.