Without a doubt, Friday, March 4, was one of the best nights of my life.

I did not go to a party, or anything else one might expect a high school senior to do. I went to the Overland Park Marriott to attend the Marco Rubio rally.

I went with two other people, Anthony Hugo, senior, and Emily Brown, Olathe Northwest senior. The three of us got to the Marriott when the doors opened and managed to stand only a few rows back from the stage.

First, Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator, gave a speech of his endorsement of Rubio.

“Marco stood strong, never waivered [during the debate]. You see that’s the kind of principled person we need. That’s the kind of conservative we need,” Santorum said.

After Santorum, Gov. Sam Brownback also gave a speech endorsing Rubio.

Brownback then introduced New Mexico Gov. Suzanne Martinez and Marco Rubio.

Martinez shared an anecdote about how she became a conservative and then gave the microphone to Rubio, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Rubio shared his views on a variety of political issues, including the best of the conservative movement, the changes that need to be made to the Department of Veteran Affairs, following the Constitution and making America stable for the next generation of voters.

Admittedly, during a quiet point of Rubio’s speech, Brown and I screamed, “We love you, Marco,” which started an inspiring speech from him about how young conservatives, and even young voters in general, will be able to change politics and make America the best place to live in the world.

After the speech, the three of us managed to get a picture with Rubio.

Hugo, Brown and I left the rally feeling energized and inspired. As Hugo said, probably 20 times, “Today was a good day.”

I went to bed Friday night excited for the next day.

Saturday, March 5, was the day of the Kansas Caucus. I drove to Olathe South at 9:30 a.m. to pass out information, with Hugo, about Rubio to the voters.

Hugo and I spent four hours distributing flyers about Rubio. The turnout of the caucus was incredible. The caucus ran out of ballots at about 1 p.m., and a few people questioned the legality of our handing out Rubio flyers, which showed that they were first-time caucusers.

In addition to handing out flyers, Hugo and I gave three speeches about why, as students and young Republicans and on Hugo’s part as someone going into the armed forces, we were voting for Rubio.

Even people who were not voting for Rubio commented that it was nice to see young people involved in elections and to see young blood in the Republican party.

When Hugo and I got lunch, there must have been over a dozen lines of people watiting to get a ballot, and all the lines went all the way across the commons. It was also very hot and very humid in the room, which made the wait difficult.

I was filled with tons of pride when I saw the record turnout. Seeing so many people voting made me believe Americans do actually utilize one of their greatest privileges.

Anyone, whether he or she is Republican, Democrat, Independent or other, should take the time to vote and be involved in politics. Having a say in government is one if the principles America was founded on, and it feels as if America is becoming great again.