1. Your parents raised you right: You weren’t raised to sit in a corner and let everyone else make decisions for you. They told you to stand up for yourself, right? Well, that hasn’t changed just because you’re an adult. Instead of standing up for yourself on the playground, you’re standing up for your point of view in the voting booth.

2. You can’t complain if you don’t vote: Now’s the time to voice your opinion, not three months from now when the person in office makes a decision that negatively affects your life.

3. Take advantage of this freedom: Most people outside of the U.S. would love to have the freedoms you take for granted.

4. You’re an adult now: You wanted it, now you’ve got it. Only, if you haven’t figured it out yet, being an adult is not always easy. Sometimes we hold our noses and vote for the lesser of two evils because it’s the right thing to do.

5. It’s your civic duty: You’ve heard this one before, but it’s still true. You are blessed to have been born in a free country. With privilege comes responsibilities like jury duty and voting.

6. You’re too smart not to: You’re young and intelligent. The least you could do is use that brain of yours for something other than Beer Pong.

7. Sometimes elections are decided by a very thin margin: We tend to think one vote won’t make a difference, but it does. Richard Nixon was elected president by only four one-hundredths of a percentage point in the popular vote in the 1960 election, according to a New York Times article. You may remember George W. Bush narrowly won the 2000 election with 271 electoral votes to Al Gore’s 266.

8. You’re the voice of tomorrow: Now is the time to let the older generations know where you stand. How does your generation see the world and what will you do differently? You can let the rest of us know by voting.

9. You can’t be busy all day: The polls are open from morning until night on Election Day. Whether you’re a morning person, a night person or you get going right around 2 p.m., you have no excuse. If you are that busy, consider voting early or mailing in an absentee ballot.

10. There are several ways to do it, and it’s not too late: You can still register to vote through grace-period registration. According to the DeKalb County clerk’s office, grace-period registration and voting is available until Saturday. Grace-period registrants vote immediately after registering. They are not eligible to vote on Election Day or to take part in early voting.

You can vote before election day in person or through the mail. Early voting is Oct. 22 to Saturday. Absentee votes have to be into the county clerk’s office by Election Day. If returning by mail, the vote must be postmarked by midnight the day before the election. Go to www.dekalbclerk.com to learn more about early and absentee voting in DeKalb County. You can also search your county clerk’s office if you live outside of DeKalb.