Friday morning at exactly 2:39 am, I finished a project I have been working on since I was ten years old. My work on this project is so old, I don't even remember why I became interested in it, or what actually made me start. Friday morning I finished the first scarf I ever started knitting. It was a bittersweet feeling. I had an attachment to the scarf, it had been with me through my transitions to middle school, high school, and college. Despite the fact that my work on the scarf was not consistent, if it was the scarf would be miles long, it was a part of my childhood to which I could always return. Now, it is complete.
That Friday night in the middle of my knitting frenzy, I felt some of the same feelings I was feeling while watching President Obama's Farewell Address. I remember watching the election in 2008 before I was really interested in politics. I remember listening to my parents debate the merits of the two senators, and reading all about the historic election in elementary school. I remember listening to President Obama being sworn in on the radio on my way home from school.
Growing up these past eight years, I've watched the Obama administration as I have grown more and more interested in politics. His impact on Washington and the country has impacted my opinions and my considerations of the issues facing our nation. His words have been used to teach me about effective uses of rhetoric in my English classes. The President and his family set an example for my generation and have pushed us to get involved in our communities.
At this point, people are lamenting the end of an era. So many changes are coming in the next four years. Many are concerned and many are hopeful, the country is divided on their opinion about how the President Elect will handle the highest office in the United States. I am very skeptical after his accusations about CNN being "fake news" when they published a report with information from multiple sources that Russia had concerning information about him. His attempt to discredit a news organization after a news story, the nature of which was not supportive of him.
This is in contrast to the leader our generation has been accustomed to for the past eight years. In my memory, I haven't ever seen President Obama criticize the media or divide the country in such as way. It seems my generation will need to adjust to our expectations of a President. We can not look to the Oval expecting an Obama-like response from Trump. We can not expect the polish we are used to seeing.
To some people, this may not be a problem, because everyone has an opinion and because we live in a pluralist society that is going to happen. Some people may want a more "rough" President, and it is something to which I must adjust. Much of these four years will be an adjustment period I suspect. There is much uncertainty, and with that uncertainty there is fear. I would urge everyone to listen to President Obama's advice to follow the example of one of my mother's favorite characters in literature: Atticus Finch. He says, "You never really know a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it." Have compassion for others, because their situation is just as foreign to you as yours is to them.
Now my scarf is complete, and with four days until President Obama leaves office his Presidency is complete as well. Every time my brother wears my first hand knitted scarf, I will think of my view of the world as a child. I will think of the world as I knew it, with the leaders I knew. I will think of the first time I was truly aware of the impact a change in leadership would bring. Most of all, I will think of the lesson the Obamas taught my generation when you put determined time and effort into a project and see it through to the end, you will get results. Mine just were eight years in the making!
