After a long election cycle, President-elect Donald J. Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a close 306-232 victory. In such a heated race, there were many first time voters heading to the polls, as 10 percent of all voters this year voted for the first time, according to a nationwide exit poll.

“I feel this was a chance to actually express our opinions. Our country has the right to be a democracy, and we should really practice that, because other countries don’t have that,” senior and first-time voter Michelle He said.

According to national exit polls, just 19 percent of voters nationwide were age 18-29, which is the same share as 2012. Nationwide voters aged 18-29 voted for Clinton over Trump 55 to 37 percent. Additionally, voter turnout was down by approximately 18 million voters. This was likely due to a dislike of candidates and political system, as both Trump and Clinton’s approval ratings were at historical lows for presidential candidates.

“[Young voters] are kind of wasting their vote,” He added. “Like I said before, they have the right to practice democracy. Ultimately, their decision is going to affect their future, so why don’t they use it to their advantage?”

Ultimately, nothing could match the feeling of filling in an election ballot for the first time.

“It was really quiet, which was to be expected, but it was definitely kind of exciting to vote for the first time in a general election and submit your ballot,” senior and first-time voter Julia Francisco said.

With America more divided than ever, voters agree that the future of the country for better or for worse is up to the people to decide, even after the election.

“I think it depends on the people and the results. Obviously, tonight there’ll be a lot of really upset people, but I think we can’t know how this impacts America until later,” Francisco added.

“Honestly, it depends on who wins, and you can’t really say right now. You need to see how they stick to their promises, which can be unpredictable. No matter who wins, it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen,” He said.

After one of the largest upsets in presidential election history, President-elect Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2017.