I am currently trying to distract myself with videos and pictures and frankly, anything that will make me crack a smile or even laugh. Talking with friends and colleagues helps, too. I have followed the 2016 Presidential election intently. Watched every debate, read various articles, had through discussions, and encouraged people to vote in the primaries since I was not of age at the time.

This was the first election I could participate in. After years of accompanying my family to the polls for them to cast their vote, it was finally my turn. I was enthralled, I would cast my vote for the first female presidential nominee of a major party. After I left my house early in the morning, I walked down the street to my polling station. I felt excited and hopeful, especially once I received my "I Voted" sticker.

Throughout the rest of my day, I was still hopeful but I became tense as polls began to close. As I left Suffolk around 8 o'clock that night, I saw that it was going to be a tight race but still I remained hopeful. However as the night progressed, my hope dwindled.

The stats were Clinton at 209 and Trump at 244 and that's when it hit me. This election was not about political parties and the concepts of liberalism or conservatism. It was about a candidate who dedicated their entire lives to government work and public service and another candidate who was a reality TV star with no government experience in the slightest. Despite the stats, I was still hopeful.

It wasn't until around 2am when I fell asleep from exhaustion throughout my day. I awoke hours later to find out that only three minutes after I fell asleep, Trump was announced the winner.

As soon as I saw the notification on my phone, I began to cry. I couldn't stop myself, it was like a knee-jerk reaction. I had already sobbed the night before, dreading this result that I never expected to be reality. Now I want people to understand me. I did not cry because my favored candidate was not winning. I cried because Trump's platform has been based on racism, the very idea of building a wall isn't for security, it's to marginalize one group and keep them out because they are "criminals." As a person of color, I feel unsafe now. Over half of the country voted for a candidate that has preached of stripping basic human rights for anyone who isn't a straight, cisgendered, white male.

It is now known that people of color don't matter in this country. To a majority of America, I don't matter. I am seen as a threat. People of color, women, Muslims, LGBTQ+ are seen as a threat. All because of who they are, it isn't right. At the end of the day, we are ALL human. We collectively have feelings, thoughts, and struggles.

My mother, a public school teacher, had to calm her class today because of the election results. Ten-year-old kids talked about how they felt unsafe now, felt like they didn't matter, felt that America made a mistake when electing a president. If a ten-year-old child is self-aware enough to be able to recognize that a person like Trump is not qualified to be President on the grounds of lack of experience and all his rhetoric, ask yourself how much influence this election had.

As Clinton graciously conceded, America looks to the future. I encourage every group that Trump has attacked with his rhetoric to stick together and protect each other. Hate and violence has surfaced under Trump's campaign, but peace and unity can be achieved. I implore us to look past this dismaying present we are facing and look to an optimistic future, together. We must not give into despair.