I hate politics, I hate the right, I hate the left hell I probably hate the middle too and just don't know it yet. In the classroom it's this interesting, complex thing to study full of theory and ideas. This election season though – the first one I was really present for – has left me absolutely disgusted. It’s divided friends and family and torn our country apart more than any other event in our modern history. Anything that evil, with that kind of malignant power is something I can never involve myself in. Another thing I ate is greed. It's been around all of us most of our life's but the more I mature and look around me the more I see its awful presence. I've seen it infect good people and drive them to madness and depravity. I pray that as long as I live I'm never weak enough to succumb to greed's ugly will.

When people think about America nowadays a lot of their thoughts probably stem from these two things. Those things aren't really America though, they never have been. They're certainly not the reason I love this land of ours.

Free people, hard work, unending landscapes from ocean to ocean. That is what America has always been about. I'll be the first to admit, we haven't always lived up to these ideals as we should have. We used to own slaves, we used to treat our workers like animals and up until about a hundred years ago the beautiful nature in our country was of no concern to us. We've always overcome the evil though, always been able to make things better for everyone and everything. Even when our country was most divided or at its worst we as a people have always been able to do what is right.

Like a lot of other people I am scared, but I'm not terrified. I know no matter what trials we face we as a nation, as a people, will over come. We will retaliate against the evil and make ourselves that much stronger, that much more free just to spite the ugly thing we fought against. My country is the land of the Grand Canyon and Adirondack Mountains. My country is filled with the most loving and hardest working people. It's a cliché but I just don’t care. In my heart I know America is beautiful, I hope it's beautiful for you too.