The 2018 Midterm Elections were packed with drama and controversy. However, before the elections, it seemed to everyone as if Americans forgot there was even an election. We should applaud the few heroes we follow and are friends with on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for posting several reminders a day to vote. It definitely never was excessive or annoying, and we owe them our sincerest gratitude for making sure we exercised our right to vote on November 6th. Without these courageous and well-informed individuals, we could have completely forgotten about the elections or that we live in a democracy to begin with.

These champions of democracy were especially helpful in being impartial to who their followers and friends voted for as well. Posts of theirs that began with statements such as, “I don’t care who you vote for, but” eased the minds of prospective voters who knew the people making these posts were definitely not implying that they were encouraging their friends and followers to vote while having the expectation for their followers to vote for the candidates aligned with the political ideologies these champions praise and share on their profiles every day.

The best posts from this past election cycle weren’t even the incessant reminders from everyone to vote, however. The best posts came on election day. Everyone browsing through their news feeds on November 6th made sure to put their phones down or take their hands off their keyboards to clap whenever they saw a selfie of somebody with an “I Voted” sticker prominently placed on their shirts. Everyone made sure to smash the “Like” button as hard as they possibly could whenever somebody showed off that they took ten minutes out of their day like everyone else to bravely meet society’s expectation of them to simply fulfill one of their civic duties. 

Two weeks later, it appeared that everyone had forgotten about the hardships and difficulties they endured trying to get to the polls, and the relatives everyone hasn’t spoken to in years have finally all gotten the chance to like their “I Voted” selfies. When it seemed as though attention had finally been redirected from the midterm elections in recent weeks, however, one woman dared to take her laptop out of its case before her lecture began.

Placed between her stickers of a local obscure coffeehouse logo, the Vineyard Vines Whale, and the geographical outline of the state of Minnesota was a slightly faded “I Voted” sticker with the edges already beginning to peel off.

Whispers circulating throughout the room and slowly transitioned into thunderous applause for the woman with the laptop. People shouted, “How courageous!” and, “She’s a modern-day hero!” 

When asked about the decision to put the sticker on her laptop, the woman said, “Well, I felt that this physical evidence of participating in a democratic society could generate so much more clout than if I only wore it and took a selfie with it on election day.”

When asked about who she voted for, she commented, “I’m a college student in a metropolitan area so it should be pretty obvious. But the hardest choice I had to make on Election Day was choosing between putting the sticker on my laptop or my water bottle”.

One of her classmates commented, “She must be very politically active and generally well-informed. I now know when she talks about politics, she means business.” 

This one woman’s courage set an example that has resonated throughout campus, causing all students to search through their trashcans for hours for their “I Voted” stickers. Let’s hope we can all find our stickers and hope the backs of them are still sticky because we all deserve the recognition she received.