In light of the recent election and Friday’s inauguration, I feel it is my duty as an educated lover of politics- and this country- to share my thoughts on the current state of America and its citizens.

It is a challenge to find hope in a situation in which you feel hopeless. I know that I understand, and I empathize with my fellow citizens. It’s difficult to try to find light in a time when the outcome that you hoped for is not the outcome produced. I implore you to remember at this time, however, that we as Americans still have a lot to learn. We are still a young country, a place that has not been around for as long as our neighbors and allies. Our stars and stripes have been only recently sewed into the flag that we know today. Upon the creation of our youthful Nation, the founding fathers laid a legacy for us that should not be forgotten, especially right now.

Whether we feel like it or not, our America was built on self-evident truths that we hold dear to the fundamental success of the nation in which we place our trust.

I cannot stand aside and turn my back on this country, no matter my political opinions. I don’t want to be silent while my friends lose hope in America. I don’t want to stand aside and stay neutral in a time when we need our patriotism the most.

It doesn’t matter which political party I affiliate myself with. It doesn’t matter who I voted for. What matters is that, despite my own opinions, I view my country as something that cannot be disregarded. No matter much we feel like we’ve fallen back into a cycle of history that is doomed to repeat itself, we must remember that this is still America. We have taken bounds and leaps since the beginning of history. That is a truth that cannot be denied, no matter your current opinions.

America now is not the America of yesterday, I agree. But when you think about it, we are not the same as we were yesterday, either. There is always room to grow.

So, as I sit and watch our next president speak to America for the first time in this office, I have to have hope. I cannot cast aside my country, I cannot ignore the decisions of our leaders, and I cannot pretend like I am not an American.

I am an American, I will always be an American, and, no matter the situation, I am proud to be an American.

This country has provided me with opportunities that I couldn’t dream to have anywhere else. I’ve been shaped into the person that I am today because of the principles that are spelled out for me in the constitution. Nothing can change the fact that it’s “We the people of the United States of America,” and not “We don’t want to be the people”. I cannot and will not overlook the blessings and chances to grow that I have been given here. To restate a point that I proclaimed previously, I am a citizen of the United States, I will always want to be a citizen of the United States, and nothing will change that.

So my fellow countrymen, I ask that you take into consideration what it means to be an American, and what it means to stand for freedom. You don’t have to agree with me, you don’t have to like what I have to say but just think about the land that you’re standing on right now. Think about the men and women who lay down their lives every day to protect this land that you now say you’re disgusted in. This is America, and we are still growing and learning. This is my country, no matter who is in charge.

“One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All.”