This is the first the presidential election that I care about deeply. I honestly believe that Barack Obama will help our country move in a direction that matches my values and beliefs. I honestly believe he will lead us away from where we’ve been for the last 8 years, and I no longer want to be there.

Since I feel so invested in this process, I’ve committed to watching the speeches at both conventions. This may sound corny, but after listening to Joe Biden and Barack Obama last week, I felt inspired to be a better, kinder person. I was inspired to share my compassion and kindness with my neighbors, be it the family across the street or the person I’ll never meet in Georgia. My mood was positive, hopeful, and open.

After listening to George W Bush, Guiliani, and Sarah Palin the past two nights, I’ve been inspired to barricade the front door of my home and hunker down with my loaded handgun in fear of who might want to harm me.

I am choosing to live my short, precious life with an open heart and mind; fear paralyzes me and it causes me to make selfish, impulsive decisions.

I’ve been thinking about this election a lot lately, and I’ve wanted to better understand why some people may be undecided about who they’ll vote for. I decided last night that this election is about the issues. I think it is the responsibility of every American to decide which issues matter to them and to then vote for the candidate that moves their issue in the direction they want.

I’m not looking for my President to be my buddy, my personal soldier, or the “man/woman next door.” I’m demanding more from our country’s leadership. I demand that our leaders be exceptionally smart and thoughtful and that they demonstrate sound decision making processes.

My issue is getting our troops out of Iraq.

I’m a professor at a community college. Two wonderful things about community colleges: (1) ANYONE can enroll; there is no application process, and (2) the tuition is significantly less expensive than 4-year colleges. Each semester, I teach about 175 students and I estimate that 20% of my students are between the ages of 19-22 and they have served in Iraq at least once. Last week was the first week of school. In that week, I met several students who are 20-years old and who are permanently disabled because they were blown up in Iraq. I have one 20 year old student whose right leg is shattered and one who is learning to accept that he has an irreparable brain injury. Another student was blinded by an explosion. Our country is paying for their education through the GI bill, and that is how it should be. However, they will pay a huge physical and psychological cost for the rest of their lives. When I assign a project that involves students choosing a topic of their own interest, I am saddened to hear that approximately 30% of the men in my classes want to better understand their suffering of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and how to manage the anxiety and terror without medication. These are our 20 year old men. To make matters worse, I don’t get the sense that many men and women freely chose to join the military. Rather, when they finished their difficult experiences in high school, they realized there was no place for them in our country’s workforce and minimum wage doesn’t pay the bills. So, the military likely felt like the only option for some.

This is my issue. I support our service men and women and I don’t want us to carelessly destroy any more of their lives. Barack Obama is telling me that he'll lead us out of Iraq (which let us not forget has nothing to do with 9/11, Al Quaeda or Bin Laden). John McCain is promising to keep our troops in Iraq. It’s clear who I should vote for.