Turn on the news today and you are guaranteed to hear something about the presidential election.

Despite being nearly a year out from the general election, speeches, rantsand debates pervade our television sets. It’s almost as if nothing else were even going on.

We live in a critical time in our country. From terrorist attacks around the world, to the possibility of the next president appointing as many as three Supreme Court Justices, surely the future of our country is highly contingent upon this election.

College students will have a big say as to the outcome of that election this year. According to the Huffington Post, there are more than 93 million millennials eligible to vote, and that makes up roughly 40 percent of the voting population.

Imagine, with a demographical control such as this, our voice could be heard at a level never before heard.

In 2012, roughly 130 million people cast their votes in the general election. Now, the millennial population equals more than 70 percent of this vote. Large voter turnout should not simply be a pipedream, but an obligation for all of us.

Thankfully, it seems that millennials are making their voices heard in this election cycle, evidenced by the candidates who have risen to the forefront just shy of today’s Iowa Caucus.

A survey of 18 to 29 year olds by the Harvard Institute of Politics found that young people who expect to vote in Democratic primaries and caucuses, 35 percent said their first choice was the frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, while 41 percent favored her challenger, Bernie Sanders. Among likely Republican voters, the top candidates were Donald Trump, the first choice for 22 percent, and Ben Carson at 20 percent. Overall polls show that millennials’ opinions are making an impact.

Much work remains to be done. I feel that many potential voters get burned out on the whole election process due to the endless hours of coverage from news outlets. It’s important to not let reports of the drab and inconsequential to overshadow the importance of what’s looming.

The Kansas caucus is roughly a month away for Republicans and Democrats. The first opportunity for Kansas millennials to make their voices heard is upon us. Whether this is your first opportunity to cast your vote, or your seventh, don’t let this opportunity to make a difference pass by.