After quite a long build up of emotions, the United States of America declared itself a new leader on November 8th. There are many people who are happy with these results. There also the many that are shocked and upset. Everyone has a right and is allowed to feel whichever emotion they like.

Upon waking up the next morning, the first thing I did was check my phone for the results. When I saw those results, my heart sunk. The candidate I had voted for and supported and stood up for had lost. The day following the election can only be described in one word: somber. Walking around campus and seeing the faces of those saddened and disappointed was just so somber. Everyone's emotions were and are still on high. Protests broke out in cities across the country expressing the discontent.

The effects of the election hadn't really hit me until November 10th. Of course, I had been upset and expressing my thoughts on the results, but it didn't really hit me hard until that morning. That morning, my professor opened the class with a small speech about how much she respected and cared for us. Then, she proceeded to offer her office as a safe zone in case we were being harassed and how to stop a harasser if we saw it happening to someone else. And then, it hit me. This is real. The man isn't even in office yet and members of the LGBTQ+ community are afraid to leave their rooms in fear of being assaulted. Muslim women won't wear their hijab in public in fear of being yelled at. People of color are yelled at and beaten by Trump supporters.

It is important to remember that in this country, we are not our figurehead. We, the people, are what define this country. Under a new president who has spoken words of hate, we must remember to be a country of love and tolerance. We must remember we hold so much within our own communities. We must remember to still fight for what we, as a nation believe in. We cannot stop fighting. Protect those who live in fear of harassment and violence against them.

We must continue to fight for the policies and the rights that will improve the lives of the many, not the few. We have to remember that we hold the power to make fantastic changes. We cannot live out the next four years like this as a country. We have to be more unified and strong more now than ever in spite of such divisiveness.

We have to represent the America that we all know and love. That is our mission for the next four years and it is crucial to our survival as a nation. May we love, unify, and prosper.