Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States. Period. The faster we recognize and accept that fact, the faster we can move on and channel our energy towards the things we can control.
I was very actively involved in the Hillary Clinton campaign. For the past month or so I have been making phone calls, knocking on doors, and fighting for something and someone I believe in. I poured my heart and soul, my blood, sweat, and tears (literally) into this campaign. The work was hard, but the experience was life changing and is something I will remember for the rest of my life.
As someone who is studying politics in college, it was very educational for me to get a glimpse into the inner workings of a campaign. I was able to see first hand how much goes into running a campaign and that it truly does take a village. Everyone's effort made a difference and it's the passion and drive of each dedicated volunteer that really pushed this campaign forward, and I am incredibly proud to say I was a part of that.
Now, after all that hard work you can bet I was not at all happy with the results of the election. 3 AM brought Donald Trump the presidency and brought me to tears along with an indescribable sense of hopelessness and defeat. In that moment I felt like the world was turned upside down and nothing seemed to make sense. I was angry and sad and sick all at the same time. However, I was not in despair for very long.
After my angry tears subsided, at least for the most part, in the wee hours of the morning sitting in my dorm room swaddled in a blanket and sipping tea, I began to think about what this meant for our country and where we would be headed. The results of the popular vote speak for itself. The country has spoken and we aren't done yet. Our deeply divided country is in desperate need and we have been screaming for a revolution, a rebellion, for generations and in a sense, we are getting one. While this is not my idea of a revolution, for many people in the United States that is exactly what Trump stands for. Donald Trump, in a lot of peoples eyes, represents new beginnings and a daring alternative to typical politicians. I cannot say I support this but I can say that I understand it.
This by no stretch of the imagination is me saying that I support Donald Trump, I don't. But the result of this election made me realize a lot of things about my life and where I am headed. After my anger subsided (rather quickly I might add) I found myself in an eerily calm state. This is pretty much where I have been ever since. I found myself thinking about what was going to happen and what I needed to do in order to move forward personally.
When Trump's first term is ending I will be graduating college. The next four years of my life are critically important and they are going to be full of learning and changing on so many different levels. For me now, the question is how am I going to channel my passion and energy? Am I going to channel it into hate or into love?
My answer is love. My answer is always love. If we let this divide our country even more, then we are letting Trump win in more ways than one. We cannot fight back with hate and anger because it will only fuel opposition from the other side. We need to keep true to our original beliefs and at the root of those beliefs is love and understanding. We can't change what has happened, so we need to focus on what will be. We still have a voice and we can use that voice to protect our rights and keep fighting for the future we want to see. I will not let this break me down, but I will use it as an opportunity to grow and emerge stronger on the other side, and I really hope you do the same. Because as a very wise woman once said, we are stronger together.
