At Youngstown State University, a campus of more than 11,000 students, many are gearing up to voter in their first presidential election.

Sophomore Brayden Melia is one of those first time voters.

"Just the aspect of being able to vote and, like, being engaged, I don't know, it's exciting," Melia says. "Like, you're kind of a grown-up now almost."

While Brayden is excited, he also recognizes the challenges involving the political tone in this country.

"It's very loud. Lots of people with loud voices talking. I don't necessarily think that's like a majority of the country, per se, just a small majority is talking very loud, very decisive on very decisive issues. When I don't think it really has to be."

At YSU, where a majority of students commute from surrounding areas, safety and the rising cost of living are common concerns. For Brayden, the thought of being able to go to school without fear is paramount.

"I think being able to go to school safe and not having to feel like someone is going to walk onto our campus with a weapon that could hurt our classmates, hurt ourselves," Melia says. "We want to be able to go to school and learn and advance in our academics and grow up and get jobs and experience life, and if we should be able to, you know, experience that and just being able to go to school safe."

Junior Sofie Myers is also getting ready to vote. For Sofie, the right to vote is something she deeply values.

"It's really important we have the right to vote," Myers says. "I'm just really excited to exercise that right. I feel like it's super important for everyone to get out there and vote regardless. So I just feel like it's an exciting thing to be able to access this right that I couldn't do before."

Like many on campus, Sofie feels the political tone has become harsh.

"I think a lot of people are intimidated by the loud voices going on, the fighting, the almost controversy happening within the political realm and I think that that disengages a lot of people from wanting to learn more or wanting to be involved."

With many students receiving financial aid, the rising cost of living is especially impactful for Senior Jordan Pintar.

"As a college student, being on your own now you realize how expensive things are, and it's like, you get sick for the first time on your own, and then you have to go out and buy yourself food and medicine, and you're like, oh my gosh, that costed so much, especially whenever you already have costs, like paying for your education, paying for books, paying for housing on campus," Pintar says. "I think just concerns about how much things cost, groceries, housing, different things like that are big."

Pintar, active in student government, sees these challenges from a different angle.

"I think it's very chaotic, and it kind of makes it hard, as a person who's trying to be educated when they're voting, to be able to find reliable resources that can kind of tell you about what's happening in a not chaotic way," Pintar says.

We asked all three students if the divisiveness makes it more or less likely for people to go vote.

"I think it depends on the voter," Myers says. "I think some people are driven by that division, but I think the majority of people realize that that division ultimately isn't good for the better of the entire country, and that I think that that disengages a lot of people."

"I think people just want to see our country going in the right direction," Melia says. " And if the if all the media and everything being said is just so devisive and this, it could be disengaging for some people."

"I think people who are already intimidated by the process of voting or going out and voting, definitely seeing how chaotic it is online can be further intimidating," Pintar says.

We also asked the students what they look for in a candidate.

"I think looking at a candidate that mostly aligns like with your ideals, but also has like the character to lead, I think, is also very important," Melia says.

"I think compassion is a big one," Pintar says. "Being able to show compassion for the people that they're being elected, to lead compassion to, like circumstances they might not understand, but they obviously have to make decisions on, is really important. And just knowing that as somebody who's voting for that person to represent you, that they will take different perspectives and points of view into account when making a decision that affects the larger whole."

"Definitely, kindness," Myers says. "I think the willingness to admit that you might have made a mistake is also really important. Knowing when to change your mind and how to effectively do that, how to speak that to your constituents in a way that's going to make it make sense to them, and being open and transparent with them as well."

All three say the division in this country has made it more difficult to talk politics on campus.

"I think it's more so like, we don't want to offend anybody," Melia says. "I think that's a bit like you don't want to go against somebody else and engage in that argument out of fear that it could get more than just a civil conversation."

"I think people are very passionate about the opinions they have," Pintar says. "I think that the election has kind of driven people further into their opinions, rather than further into the point of view of wanting to learn about things. So, conversations, a lot of the time need to be educational, but it's kind of hard whenever you know you want to talk about your opinion, but then you start getting defensive around it. And I think that's where a lot of the issues with this election season are coming in to play, is people don't really want to have a like educated conversation. It's more just a conversation on why they think that, rather than what can we do to all think that?"

Still, Pintar says it's important to have those conversations on campus.

"I think higher education is where you have those conversations? It's where you can have those changes in opinions, and they're made in an educated way, and it should be a place that everybody feels safe to share their opinion, but also safe to learn," Pintar says. "So, I think talking about our campus specifically, it's where we should be having conversations like that."

All three students say there is a strong push on campus for civic engagement. Brayden and Jordan work with the Campus Vote Project to make YSU a voter-friendly campus.

"So far, we have voter registration tables twice a week, but we've seen a lot more engagement with our events, like the voter trivia and the panel discussion, so stuff that's a little more interactive for students, but just that's kind of the place that we want to continue these conversations at," Jordan says. "We've also had support through student activities and other departments that's helped us with these programs."

Three students representing a number of young people ready to have their voices heard, in what's expected to be a very close election.