Millions of Americans either winced or nodded to statements made by the two presidential candidates at the first debate Sept. 26. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, discussed topics including national security, police brutality, tax returns, nuclear weapons and job creation.

Both candidates reiterated the importance of votes from young supporters and called for involvement from young people around the nation. The Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs at Bryant High school intend to make their own impact.

“I got involved in politics when I realized I was strongly opinionated,” Young Republicans club president senior Tabitha Cummings said. “I really enjoy debating with others. I enjoy sharing my opinion and seeing what others’ responses are.”

Cummings just recently got involved in politics.

“I didn’t really know about Republicans, Democrats, conservatives or liberals,” Cummings said. “I looked at Donald Trump, Ted Cruz [and] Ben Carson, and I realized that they have a lot of the same beliefs and values that I have. After that, I started calling myself a Republican.”

Senior Julia Nall, president of the Young Democrats, has been interested in politics since a young age.

“In third grade, I wrote a letter to [President] George Bush about insurance reform,” Nall said. “So I guess this has been a long time coming. Ever since then, I have been really into politics.”

Nall is fascinated with all the different aspects of politics.

“Whenever I sit down and I really think about politics, I’m like, ‘Do I want to dedicate my life to this?’ because I do not even know if I enjoy it,” Nall said. “But once I get out there and get working on stuff and get involved, it is so much fun. I love reading policy, debating and being involved.”

Both club presidents want to support their respective candidates. The candidates themselves rely on donations from supporters to help fund their campaigns.

“We are going to send many students a link to [Donald Trump’s] website and say if you want to donate to Trump’s campaign you may,” Cummings said. “During club meetings, we will also talk as Republicans about what we want to stand for or protest against that are similar to Donald Trump’s policies.”

Young Democrats decided to work on a more local scale.

“We just did a voter registration drive,” Nall said. “We haven’t done a whole lot on a national level because that is very hard to get involved with. We do a lot of local volunteering, like stuffing envelopes, knocking on doors and phone banking.”

Although political beliefs might differ between the two clubs, they do share a common interest.

“We want more people to be involved in politics,” Cummings said. “I think Young Democrats feel the same way about this. Many young people don’t care who the president is and think that it doesn’t affect them, but it actually does.”