Unity - It's an exciting day for many students around the country heading to the polls for the first time.

That's the case for many of students at Unity College.

This election day, they're upholding a school tradition that truly defines what the word unity means.

"Since 2004, we've held a voter parade for each presidential election and basically students organize and march in a colorful parade from the Unity College campus to the polling place in the town of Unity," said Mark Tardiff, Associate Director of Communications at Unity College.

Sharing this experience with other students makes the experience even more memorable for them.

"It's my first time voting, so it's nice to be like, the first time I voted, you know. I marched with 50 or so students from my college," said Samantha Longo a student at Unity College.

The voter parade began as part of The Unity Experience, a class that teaches students what it means to be a civic-minded part of society. Taking steps toward being responsible citizens together is encouraging during a time that can sometimes be really intimidating.

"A lot of students don't vote and it's really sad. Having a community do it, I think it really pushes kids to come out and vote," said Longo.

Starting a voting routine based on an experience such as this will hopefully keep these young Americans filling out ballots in future elections.

"For us to walk down as a group it gives me hope that our generation does care about our future, that we're being proactive about it," said Matt Dyer, a student at Unity College.

Print this Story