April 5 is a big day for Wisconsinites — especially the college students.

No, it’s not because a new season of “The Bachelor” is airing, or because the Badgers are national basketball champions — it’s even more sensational than that. For the vast majority of college students, myself included, this year will be the first time we can vote in a primary.

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Sensational is a perfect way to describe this campaign season. Some people may even suggest that watching a GOP presidential debate is better than reality TV. It seems that is what it took to finally win the attention of millennials.

Now that the government has finally grabbed the attention of college students I hope it motivates them to head to the polls. Why? Because the idea of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas or Gov. John Kasich as our next president should be more than enough motivation. Their decisions will change your life. To be more accurate, our decisions on whether or not we vote, and who we vote for will give one of those five people the power to change our lives.  Yes, choosing to not vote will also impact your future.

Voting is our civic duty. It’s a simple act of participation that identifies us as American citizens. There are still so many countries across the world that don’t get the opportunity to speak their mind and share their opinions like we do in the United States.

Voting is our responsibility. We have many responsibilities in life, like cleaning our homes and paying our rent. What happens when you stop cleaning your room or when you stop paying your rent? Suddenly you’re faced with an overwhelming mess that seems to be unstoppable and continues to encroach on your daily life and on the place you call home. Just like with our household responsibilities, when we stop fulfilling our responsibilities in our government, our entire country is faced with an overwhelming mess that is hard to control.

Over the past few years, voter apathy has only increased. People have stopped fulfilling their basic duty of voting in elections and our country is becoming a mess. The Obama administration and many other Democrats have taken advantage of voter apathy and increased voter disconnect by inappropriately expanding federal government to the point where it infringes upon Americans’ basic freedoms.

Throughout Obama’s two terms he has issued several overreaching executive orders, buried our nation in trillions of dollars of debt, dismantled our healthcare system, focused more on climate change than foreign relations and he has tried to limit the rights of the 2nd Amendment.

This is our reality. As college students, we are no longer the future, we are the present. The adult world exists and we are entering it. It’s a world where we have to pay ridiculously high taxes, while still managing to pay our bills. A world where terrorism is infiltrating our country just as we are starting to build our families and homes. A world where the government has created not only a disconnect with the people, but distrust in our respectful men and women who serve in uniform. Our freedoms and our safety are at stake.

We can do better. We can fix the disconnect the Obama administration has created between government and people, by giving the power back to the people. It’s not too late to be a part of a great movement to take America back from a greedy government.

Above all, you should vote April 5 because you are an American. You owe it to yourselves, to vote in favor of limiting the overbearing reach of the federal government. You owe it to yourselves to tell the government that worked hard for your income, and deserve to keep more of it. You owe it not only to your future selves, but also to your future children, to vote to ensure they grow up in an America safer than the one we currently live in. Most importantly, you owe it to the men and women who serve this country, to ensure that we remain a nation worth fighting for. All you have to do is vote.

Emelia Rohl ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism and communication arts.