I stayed up until around 2:00 in the morning, and so did a lot of my friends, just awaiting the results that we were dying to end in our favor. As Trump’s numbers ran up, my confidence ran down, and I could not believe what was happening before my eyes; a twisted system was allowing a racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, sexist, homophobic bigot to be elected into The Oval Office held by his amazing and undeniably decent predecessor, Barack Obama. In my opinion, no one can really replace the Obamas, but to allow such an undeniably awful man and his even more awful Vice President-elect to be nominated is just a shame; if you confidently support and voted for Trump and Pence without being phased by past and current gaffes, shame on you. Coming from a majority liberal town in a blue state, the next day was anything but pleasant, there was a chilling sense of discomfort filling the halls of my school as myself and others had to take a second to ourselves as we absorbed the news. The atmosphere of the whole day was dim and uncomfortable, I felt unsafe, vulnerable, and overall unhappy. The nomination as Trump and Pence as our President and Vice President-elects are truly an unnerving step in a scary direction for this country’s future.

The next morning, I entered Dunkin Donuts for a fairly regular run with my good friend, who also happens to be extremely liberal. As we drove there with our baggy eyes and foggy heads, we were just in dire need of a cup of coffee; it just so happens that over the speaker in the completely silent 15X15ft building played Born in the USA by none other than my own state’s resident, Bruce Springsteen. We looked at each other and gave each other a disappointing grin as if to say, “really…” the perfect way to start off our very tired, very groggy morning full of nothing but disappointment and discomfort. Within my first few steps into the school building, it was more quiet than usual, with the very few Trump supporters jumping for joy, making my day that much worse. When my APUSH class came, it coincidentally coincided with Hillary’s concession speech, I hadn’t really cried since the news, but there were two mere words that appeared on the Smart Board in front of me that got me right in the heart, “Trump’s victory”. It was then that I realized that in the twisted system that is the Electoral College, we allowed a man who doesn’t stand for mine, and many other people’s inalienable rights as the next president of the United States, and I was truly terrified.

For those of you calling us “babies” and telling us we need to “get over it” don’t really understand the impact words can have. I am offended and terribly scared to move forward with a president who has no problem calling women pigs and wanting to justifying sexual assault, and with a Vice President who wants to put homosexuals into conversion camps. We are theoretically going back in time, a time where women, African-Americans, Muslims, immigrants, homosexuals, and anyone who is basically not a white male is considered lesser and unequal. Trump’s idea of “making America great again” includes subjugation of minorities, and remember, everyone loves someone that Trump hates.