Woody Allen, President Harry S. Truman and the ubiquitously popular President Josiah Edward Bartlet are still in a constant struggle over who coined the phrase “decisions are made by those who show up.” Aaron Sorkin, Bartlet’s creator, “borrowed” the phrase from the fictitious president for his 2012 commencement address at Syracuse University in order to inspire graduates to be true citizens of the world.

And as it turns out, he’s right. They’re all right. In 2008, John McCain won the state of Missouri by garnering 3,903 more votes than Barack Obama, or .1 percent of the vote. Just down the road, in the 24th Missouri Senate district, John Lamping (R) beat out Barbara Fraser (D) in 2010 by only 126 votes in a district of 166,007 people. To put how close elections can be in perspective, that margin is less than half the size of a General Chemistry course.

It’s not a presidential election year, and there are no state-wide candidate elections this year that are going to draw a turnout like they did in 2012. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have an impact. Washington University has a huge organizing and advocacy potential that too often goes untapped. In 2012, our campus was plagued with long lines to vote in Ursa’s—many of us standing in that line for the first time. Students from every part of the political spectrum not only voted, but they knocked on doors, they called their neighbors, they voted back home and they got their friends to do the same. In Missouri, we made it clear that we didn’t want to be represented by “legitimate rape.” And at Wash. U., we also made it clear that we hold voting as a value regardless of political affiliation. Since then, there’s been a massive voter registration effort on campus, whether you’re voting on the South 40 or voting absentee back home.

It was a rare moment when we could not only talk about the issues going on in our society, but we could take a real, meaningful step to correct them. That tangible outlet doesn’t present itself very often, and it’s coming up again on Tuesday, Nov. 4, in the midterm elections.

In preparation for Tuesday, many groups around campus have been working tirelessly to boost voter turnout. Ready for Hillary, the national grassroots organizing effort encouraging former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for president, has been working across the country to drive turnout in a year where conventional wisdom says people will stay home. Here on campus, we’ve been working to rebuild the same organizing efforts that made 2012 such a remarkable year for student activism on campus, and to get out the vote as much as possible. No matter where or how you’re voting on Tuesday, remember that who you choose for elected office affects everything from the criminal justice system to healthcare access to marriage equality, as emphasized in the new Rock the Vote video, #TURNOUTFORWHAT. Have the conversations with your peers about what matters to you and why. Go online and look up what’s going to be on the ballot where you’re voting. And most importantly, turn out on Tuesday. If decisions are made by those who show up, then let’s turn out and get front-row seats.