Although the University election season comes just once each semester, for many students, engagement in politics does not stop there.
Taking their efforts straight to Richmond, students have learned that one need not be a professional to lobby the government and have an impact.
"Lobbying is just a fancy word for talking to your legislators and ... telling them how you feel about an issue," third-year College student Jackie Kruszewski said. "It's something everyone can do."
In fact, Kruszewski said she did not know how easy it was to talk to state legislators until she began to do so this year.
"You go online, you find their e-mail address, you find their regular address or you just show up at their office one day," she said. "These are not United States senators."
Third-year College student Ashley Studholme described this process as a responsibility of citizenship, mentioning that keeping the communication open between lawmakers and their constituents is an important part of democracy.
"We get a chance to vote [on] who we want to represent us, but then it's that much extra to follow through and let them know how we feel on certain issues," she said.
People can pay groups to support issues for them, but Kruszewski said this is only one option for political influence.
"It's not like it rules out, if you have the time and the will ... [personally] going up to your legislator," she said.
This is exactly what Kruszewski, Studholme and first-year College student Matt Trumbo-Tual, all members of the Student Environmental Action CIO, chose to do in support of the Virginia Clean Smokestacks Act, a bill that was being considered in the General Assembly.
Studholme pointed out that one of the easiest ways to get involved in politics is finding an issue that is already on the table.
"You can go out and talk about
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