I still look back and remember people saying, “Donald Trump running for president? Well that’s a good joke” or “He could never win” or “If Donald Trump wins, the people in this country are dumb”. I heard every single piece of hope for a Trump-free America but on Wednesday morning, this country was hit with an astonishing realization. How could we even begin to think of the next four years under a racist, misogynist man who has no respect for anyone but himself?

I am angry. Angry that I live in an America that holds the same beliefs as Donald Trump. I am angry that I know people who decided that it was better to vote for Trump based on their financial beliefs rather than the friends that they have who are women, minorities, and/or homosexuals. How can I live in a place where I know that these are the beliefs of the people around me?

No one should be afraid of walking down the streets because they may be harmed for their identity. Day one of Trump America included men running around yelling “I can grab your pu**y now because it’s legal.” It also included white men targeting Muslim women and saying to their faces, “I can’t wait to get rid of these f*cking people”. A Trump America is not one that I ever thought I would have to get used to. In only the first few days, people are acting out and targeting the minorities in this country. I don’t even know what to tell my friends who are afraid to go home because they are afraid that their white father will not agree with the friends that they have. I have no idea what to tell my professor, who decided to come to this country for freedom and safety; not fear. And what do I tell myself? I expected to wake up on Wednesday morning with the first female president...instead I got this.

And this is not the America that I had planned to live in.

They say “9/11 was the worst day in America and 11/9 was the second worst.” It’s hard to believe in a Trump America but this is the America that are now forced to live in. I urge people to fight and stand up for themselves because nothing about this predicament is fair. It’s our First Amendment right to speak and protest freely and that is what we must do.