What a week! It was just another day at FAU when we found out that the President of the United States would be visiting our University to talk about the economy. From that point on, the excitement about the event drove students into a frenzy. Hundreds of students rushed for days trying to obtain tickets through a lottery process, while others hunted down their friends who they knew had access to tickets.

Based on the excitement and anticipation leading up to the event, it’s evident that there are many students who love this President, or are at least enthralled about seeing and hearing him live, especially since he’s speaking on their college campus. We were so impressed by the amount of enthusiasm that the students had at having the opportunity to go to this event, and while it was encouraging, it was also a bit frustrating.

There are so many students who clearly support the President and want to see him re-elected in November, and this was quite clear as students tried as hard as they could to attend his speech. They cheered his name and even chanted for “four more years.” Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, but one must ask the question, if you support the President, if you love Barack Obama and what he is doing for your country, why aren’t you more involved in helping him get re-elected?

We are now entering a critical election cycle that will ask America if Barack Obama deserves another four years in the White House, or if instead,  we should elect a Republican alternative like Mitt Romney. Sure, we can get excited about him coming to speak on our campus and we can show our support by cheering him on at events like what we saw on Tuesday.  But for all those enthusiastic and passionate students who want to see President Obama get re-elected, we have a challenge for you: Get involved with the 2012 effort!

There are so many different ways to get involved and help the campaign, and you can do it right here on  campus! You can help the Obama campaign by registering voters in the Breezeway, because remember, college students tend to strongly support the President,  so it’s important that we help register as many students as possible! You can also get involved by getting in contact with the local Obama campaign who are on a mission to reach out to the local Obama supporters in the community. Volunteers are always needed during election cycles to make phone calls to voters reminding them about registering to vote and reminding them to vote and this is just one more way you can get involved. The campaign will even send volunteers into neighborhoods and walk door by door getting people involved in getting Obama re-elected. For college students, there are also job opportunities at these campaigns, as well as opportunities to receive college credit through internships in the summer and fall semesters.

Now, we know that time is always an issue. We’re students too, and we know that everyone has priorities and are not always able to give a lot of time to a campaign. But that’s ok, you don’t have to! Even if you only give a few hours a week or on the weekend in a campaign office, or if you make sure that everyone in your family and all of your friends and co-workers are registered to vote and supportive of the President, then you are helping him get re-elected!

So, here’s our challenge to you. We challenge our peers who were so pumped up and excited to see President Obama to take the initiative and do more than just attend an Obama event. Get involved in this political process! Make your voice heard not only at one of Obama’s speeches or campaign rallies, but do more to get involved and help get President Obama re-elected! And don’t forget, if you want more information on how to help, consider contacting the FAU College Democrats, because re-electing President Barack Obama is our number one priority!

Boris Bastidas is the President of the FAU College Democrats

Jaclyn Broudy is the Treasurer of the FAU College Democrats