Dear President Obama,

As your term of eight years is slowly coming to an end, I want to leave you with a few last words. Thank you. Through the past years you have done your best in bettering this country. Although, not everything was successful, we could all agree on that; but it was all in good intentions. Through the nasty words to the false claims, you kept your head. President Obama, you and your family have served this country day in and day out. You have outlined a problem, big or small, and attempted to fix it. From affordable healthcare, to the Let’s Move Act that First Lady Michelle implemented, you did what you thought was right for our country. Successful or not, it was an effort.

The grace, poise, and efficacy you and your family have shown is hard to ignore. You were more than just the ‘first African American President’. In the beginning, people thought you were just a figurehead in history. You showed us that you weren’t a President for the Black community, you were a President for the people. You treated each person as they were, special within their own; never doubting one’s strengths or lessening one’s struggles. I have the utmost respect for you President Obama.

You taught us to look beneath the first impressions and simply get to know each other. By giving equal rights to all citizens no matter their ethnicity, religion, social status, sexual preference, or gender identity. You, Obama, have spoken for those who have been silenced for years.

There isn’t a day that goes by, that I am faced with words of discouragement regarding your terms of service. Words that accuse you of the most disgraceful things; conspiracy with ISIS, promoting riots and unjust bloodshed in our country. These are heartless, and unforgivable accusations placed upon your name. And yet here I am. If an accusation is not practical, I refuse to entertain such an idea. It is so easy to sit at home and judge the hard work of our President, but do nothing about it. If we are so passionate to spread hate, why don’t we put the energy into fixing what we see so wrong? President Obama, you should never be ashamed for anything you have accomplished and/or not accomplished in the past eight years. It takes a strong minded human being to run for such an office, and a high level of respect should be shown for such a duty to this country. There is a handful of people in this country who can say they have had the courage to run for the leader of this great nation. We are so quick to point fingers to the man or woman who puts the effort in leading this country, that we forget we are the main source of the problem. Each presidency carries the load of the damage before hand. There are no empty slates or start-overs. Instead, the elected leader is expected to be the answer; and this is never the case.

If there is one thing we can take away from your service, it is this: although not everything may go as planned, and obstacles might slow you down, never stop fighting. For if we stop fighting, we have become comfortable. Tolerance is a quality this nation needs to adopt. Be tolerant of our differences as well as our similarities. If we were all meant to be the same, then we wouldn’t need a leader. A leader is suppose to take each piece to the puzzle and allow us to flow smoothly. It is never a fault of one man or woman when a nation is in trouble. It is the fault of the entirety of the group. You have made me laugh. You have made me cry. Most importantly, you have made me proud and you have given me an even louder voice. Thank you again, President Obama, for your service to our great country.