By: Camilla Bozzuto

While millions of Ohioans headed to the polls Tuesday, November 3, a group of Bellbrook High School students experienced something entirely new: casting their first-ever ballot. Election Day marked a huge milestone for newly eligible voters as it marked the opportunity to contribute to the decisions shaping their communities and state.

Evie Olds, a senior at BHS, was well-prepared for Election Day. With some helpful advice from her mother about the voting check-in process, Olds did her own research on which candidates aligned more closely with the issues that mattered to her.

To Olds, casting her first ballot felt like a major milestone. “Walking out and getting an ‘I Voted’ sticker also felt a bit surreal,” Olds said. “I always saw the adults in my life with theirs, and then I had one of my own.”

Similarly, senior Will Dreisbach remembers going to the polls with his parents on Election Days as a kid. “Being able to do that all on my own felt really good,” Dreisbach said. “I researched the candidates who I was planning on voting for so I could make an informed decision.”

While the experience of voting was exciting for some, the aspect of voting for the first time also brought a bit of uncertainty. Like Olds, Sean Christensen, also a senior at BHS, took time to prepare before heading to the polls, finding reassurance in the guidance of his parents. “I talked a little with my parents beforehand,” Christensen said. “It made voting sound a little less unnerving since I had never done it before.”

In preparation, Christensen visited each candidate’s website as well as some news sites that gave insight into each candidate’s beliefs and promises.

Christensen left the polls feeling that his participation mattered. “I felt like I had made a difference,” Christensen said after casting his first ballot. “Not a large one, but a difference.”