Until a while ago, politics to me did not seem appealing at all. At the simple mention of the word, all that came to my mind were people disagreeing about subjects that did not interest me in any way. Looking back, I was a bit ignorant in some ways because these matters affect and influence my everyday life, even though it doesn’t seem to most of the time.

Since the election campaign has been on the news constantly, I have suddenly found myself wanting to listen to what the party leaders have to say, their views on controversial topics such as immigration control, and what they stand for as a whole. I have watched the live debates on television, as well as separate individual interviews, and I can now see how interesting politics really is. We are essentially choosing a leader which will ‘run’ and control our country for the next few years, so it is important that the right decision is made as to who would be best for the job. I found it encouraging to go to school and find that so many of my friends have also been following the election campaign on television and newspapers, and I think it is a real achievement that so many young people are taking an interest in politics, as these young people could most decidedly be the leaders of our future.

In the past, I have always found myself “supporting” whoever my parents said they agreed with, but now I feel I can listen to what the candidates have to say and have my own opinions and make up my own mind, even if our views are similar. Isn’t politics just so exciting?