Yes, we did

When asked 20 years from now what defined your generation, what will you say? Technology? Globalization? Changing the landscape of American politics and electing the first black president of the United States?

All of the above are legitimate answers, but Nov. 4, marked the culmination of a movement by the youth of America to have their voices heard by electing Barack Obama.

The end of my sophomore year, I was a member of the small but dedicated group IU College Democrats, and I was approached after a meeting one night by a fellow member about holding a leadership role in the Students for Barack Obama chapter that was forming at IU. Little did I know the role our fledgling group would have in electing our next president.

SFBO chapters were forming all over the country as students saw the leader this incredible man was and began to rally behind him long before the political insiders of D.C.

While Obama was still considered a long-shot candidate, IU students were knocking on doors in six states and making calls all over the country. The IU chapter worked tirelessly through the primaries and caucuses, almost winning red-blooded Indiana for Obama at the end of an epic primary season. Superdelegates battled as we spent our summers at jobs and internships, and just as we headed back to Bloomington, Obama became the Democratic nominee.

From the first day of class this fall, IU Students for Change members were out in full force registering and educating students.

We registered more than 10,000 new voters and lobbied the Election Board to ensure the campus was allotted a fair number of early voting days. At the close of voter registration, volunteers began driving students to vote early and knocking on doors in the community to inform people of their polling places.

On Election Day, we watched our hard work pay off as states such as Ohio and Virginia went for Obama, and finally, somewhere between night and morning, Indiana turned blue.

The story of this victory is not just one of those who worked for the campaign, but of a youth electorate who showed that it is engaged, active and significant. Young people shaped this election by researching voting records online, never considering gender or race against a candidate and organizing through social networking sites.

We blogged against Iraq, told our neighbors at home how Obama’s tax plan would benefit their families and demanded a new green economy for job security and our planet’s future.

Electing Obama as president is the first step in what will be a long road to repairing our economy and reputation in the world. But we can look forward with great confidence that he will continue to listen to our voices and work with the Democratic Congress to restore our country.

As a young American, I have never been more proud to be part of my generation, a generation that began the discourse about where our nation should be going and proved we are committed to getting there.