As an out-of-state student, my college experience often differs greatly from those who call Illinois their home. Often, my friends can choose to go home on a given weekend if they need something from their parents, have family events or just feel homesick.

I don’t have that same luxury. Instead, I, and the countless other out-of-state students on campus, try to make the best out of what we have here on campus. And this certainly isn’t hard; the unique environment that Campustown, Urbana and Champaign provide makes the University a great place to live, work and play.

Yet, when we consider the concept of where our home is, many students still think of where they were before college. Their allegiance to their hometown stops them from experiencing the community to its fullest, and they fail to see the benefits the towns have to offer.

All students should change their voting address to their homes here because it’s where we spend most of our time during the year. It’s where we learn, where we work and where we discover things bigger than ourselves. It only makes sense that if we were going to make policy changes to our livelihoods, we do it for places that will directly affect these important aspects of our lives. 

And even more important than ourselves are the connections we make here. College campuses are often students’ first foray into true freedom. This freedom is often equated with simple things, like personal habits and routines. But it can also mean freedom to choose what communities we interact with.

Voting at college allows students to take their first step into this freedom of civic engagement. Learning about local candidates, finding voting polls and participating in local government might not be something a student has done before, but they are important skills for any citizen to experience. All of these skills help simulate real-world environments that students will experience later, making it good practice for them to get used to these processes now.

Overall, the issue of voting reveals a problem that college campuses are always trying to solve: a lack of community engagement. Rather than trying to engage with the towns surrounding campus, students may stay only within the confines of campus or return to their hometown more often than not.

College is built as a micro-community, a place where young adults learn how to interact with others and the environment around them. To take that to the fullest, they also need to engage with that community just as much as it engages with them. So, change your voting address to your home here, and while you’re at it, learn about the local community and what you can do to help it.

Amartya is a freshman in LAS.

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