As of Tuesday evening, it’s official. Barack Obama will continue his presidency for the next four years. He faced tough competition in Mitt Romney, but with more money spent on campaigning and wrangling in more youth voters, Obama was able to secure his spot in the White House.

Students, who make up a large portion of the 18-29 age range of voters, made it to the polls this year during a time that is crucial to life after college. Nineteen percent of the voters in Tuesday’s election were between 18 and 29, with President Obama winning the majority of those votes over Romney by 60 percent to 37 percent, according to the early released National Exit Poll conducted by Edison Research.
Included in those numbers were a number of Northern Kentucky University students. The university is home to students from mainly Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. While Kentucky and Indiana are important in the election, Ohio is one of the main battleground states that undoubtedly plays a major role in who wins. Obama managed to take Ohio Tuesday and secure his presidency.
Many Ohio-based students were more inclined to vote during this election because of their state’s importance in the final decision.

“I was more enthusiastic because it makes me feel more important,” senior social work major Deonna Evans said. “The votes in Ohio were so important so it feels like your vote counted.”
Freshman Alex Sunderman, also from Ohio, voted because “statistically, you’re more inclined to vote again” after voting in the first possible election. Being from Ohio also heightened his excitement because “we are an actual state in the decision on who the next president shall be.”

According to CNN’s reports, 63 percent of 18-29-year-old Ohioans voted for Obama. In Kentucky, Romney came out on top with 60 percent of the state’s votes. The difference is in the number of electoral votes that each state has. Ohio holds 18, while Kentucky is awarded 8 electoral votes.

During the campaigning process, Obama and Romney promised plans for students and education, and the president’s re-election will give him the opportunity to continue current education plans. Because of the voter turnout among young people, most of which are considered students, the president’s plan for education could make a big difference in a lot of students’ lives, both in the present and in the future.
With Obama’s re-election, students want to see reform in the education system, which is something the president has been pushing since the beginning of the campaigning process.

But that is not all students care about. In an effort to see what students want to see done in the next four years, The Northerner staff members had students write their request and we captured it. The photos on the opposing page document what we found.

From peace to tax reform, the answers vary, but it’s clear that students want to see some change in the country. For students at NKU, it’s more about education and equality. President Obama has stated plans to work for all of these things.

Max Spangler, a junior history major who wrote about the nation’s economy, said, “The country’s screwed if we don’t overcome the fiscal cliff.”
Many students also voiced concern about marriage equality, which is a major component of Obama’s campaign and plan for the future of the United States. It’s visible through the accompanying photos that equality is on students’ minds.

Only time will tell what happens in the next four years of Obama’s presidency, but it’s clear that students are ready to see some changes.