Dear Mr(s). President,

I have not been able to escape this year’s presidential election. Media sources from Twitter to Channel 5 have been overwhelming me about whether you stumbled or went mute on an interview with Larry King. I have heard opinionated rants about you from everyone, including my barely bilingual grandmother and even strangers while abroad, who could not help sharing their two cents upon learning I was American.

I am writing to you because whether my loyalties are red, blue or lie with Yeezy, I am one of the countless voters in this country with a decision to make this November. I know it is important to be a participant in our democratic system. Don’t worry, I was listening to all the motivational speeches urging me to have a voice. Well, at least I was the first couple of times.

Either way, I am a little worried because you have a direct and a lot of indirect impact on my future. What you do will affect whatever post-graduation plans I should make. I don’t even want to think about the stability of my finances after May. I’m not sure if they told you this part, but this president job is a four-year gig. From seniors like me to even the first-years walking around, who are still figuring out which Shapiro building is which, we are trusting you with our foreseeable futures.

So, I am what Brandeis likes to call a Health: Science, Society & Policy major. Think public health in all of its interdisciplinary glory. It’s a great major and for the many out there who are doubling it with pre-med or bio or business or psychology or whatever, I am inclined to believe you agree. There’s only one snag. This major of ours is incredibly American-centric. After all, one of our required courses is called American Health Care, and a majority of it is focused on the hefty and often infamous legislation that is endearingly called Obamacare. I know you’ve talked about repealing this, which makes me feel like part of my education will become a little less relevant.

I guess a lot of things are said during an election, though. There’s also that promise to change schools, and I think you used the word “transform” in regard to the profession of teaching. I don’t know. Maybe teachers will love the changes. After all, our public school system is far from perfect and not without its flaws. Nevertheless, it is something for an education minor or someone in a teaching certification program to keep in mind at the preliminary stages of what is probably expected to be a long career in education.

Speaking of education, you and every politician I can think of has made some claim about education. You care. It is important. It’s an “investment” in our youth. Well, let me wave my arms and kick my legs on behalf of my fellow college students and pray for a life preserver to be thrown while we slowly drown in debt. That $60,000 per year price tag on a degree feels like an anchor, and I personally prefer to be able to breathe. Some of us will panic and take a job that pays the bills rather than one that aligns with our interests or a fit that would make us the most productive citizens we could be. Others will delay loan payments with more education in graduate school.

Either way, Mr(s). President, I’m pretty nervous about the future. I need to know how important an educated workforce is to you, or a happy workforce. You have the power to cripple the brains who keep society going. Please don’t. Help us have a future. If that’s too much to ask, then just let us have our future. Don’t make it harder than it already is.

Sincerely,

The Not-Yet-Graduated-But-Thinking-Ahead-Voter