It’s over. That’s right, the 2008 presidential campaign is finished. Some of you are thrilled that Barack Obama is our nation’s president-elect. Some of you may not be too happy with the outcome. But no matter whom you voted for, the important thing is that you voted.

For most of us at SMU, this was the first election in which we were eligible to vote. Thankfully, our generation did not disappoint. It has been said that young people today are apathetic, lazy and expect everything to be handed to them. I believe we have proven the naysayers wrong, if only for the moment. Voters between the ages of 18 and 29 arrived at polling sites en masse. According to MSNBC, the numbers leapt by more than two million people since 2004.

Our efforts as a generation are to be commended, but we should also recognize how important what we have taken part in is. Tuesday’s outcome was historic. Never before in our country has a black man been elected president. Never before has a woman come so close to the Oval Office, and never before has the Republican Party put a female on the ticket. This election will be spoken about for generations after we are gone. Even if you did not want to see Obama in the White House, no one can deny the enormous impact this election will have on the history of the United States.

The fact that this campaign and election process went by peacefully says plenty about the country we live in. In other nations, a leader with as much bad press as George W. Bush would probably have been taken out of office violently. Luckily, America’s democratic system of government has come through. In January, a new man will kick up his heels on the desk of the Oval Office, and a new term will begin. Four years are ahead of us to do whatever we can to improve this country. Like Obama said in his acceptance speech, America can change. That’s it’s beauty.

We have come so far as a generation in the past months, and we should not let our efforts die down now that the polls are closed. There are major issues in this country that we care about– we proved that by voting. Now is the time for our voices to be heard louder than ever. Gay marriage, abortion, energy, healthcare, education and student loans- these affect us all. So, write a letter to your congressman, start a petition or simply join a group on Facebook. What we cannot do is slip into the notion that everything is hunky-dory. Our country has serious strides to make, and we can help make them.