Editor's note: This editorial was written before Nov. 8 due to print deadline. 

By the time you read this, the United States will have elected its next president. Hopefully. Because this edition of The Pendulum went to print on Tuesday evening and only three pages were allowed to go to print after 9 p.m, as of writing this, the candidate who will take office is unknown.

But in this period of uncertainty, one thing is definite: Despite how “over” the divisive nature of this election season you are, there’s no time to be exhausted.

A recent Pew Research Center analysis found that more than one-third of social media users surveyed are sick of political content on their feeds. The study found that 37 percent of those surveyed said they were “worn out by how many political posts and discussions they see” on social media.

Steering away from productive dialogue — be it in the online world or the offline world — will only further the unprecedented level of divisiveness we’ve seen this election season.

We’ve acknowledged that we can show up for debate watch events in the hundreds, but many of us have had our guards up when it comes to discussing our preferred candidate.

In an interview with Elon News Network, Elon University President Leo Lambert said, “It feels to me that people are more guarded in this election than in many that I can remember.” And we’ve seen this at Elon, too. Aside from the “Elon for Hillary” Facebook group, no other state or national candidate was supported by Elon students on a public platform.

But now that these positions are filled, it’s time for all of us to stop and ask, “What happened?”

One opportunity to do this will be at the “After the Vote” event which will feature a panel discussion by Political Science faculty Nov. 10 at 4 p.m.

But that should be just one of many events that students must attend and that the Elon Politics Forum, the nonpartisan political organization at Elon, should help organize. The organizations working to advance civic engagement on campus should make it a priority to follow up the election season with events that will help students dissect and understand these past few months critically. These should be driven by students and not only by faculty panels.

This is not a time to be exhausted — this is a time to discuss.