The presidential election is over, and Donald Trump is going to be our next president. The Electoral College is the system that has determined our leaders since the beginning of our nation, and it is highly unrealistic that somehow Hillary Clinton can take back this election. So we are now forced to accept Trump's presidency.

Trump may be a racist, sexist, immature man, but he will be our next president. His success or failure over the next four years will be the success or failure of our nation. Protesting his election and claiming that he is not our president will not stop him from becoming commander and chief of our country in January. Whatever decisions Trump makes will affect our future, and as scary as that is, it is also an opportunity for us to have a voice. We can decide to be open and accepting towards everyone with hopes that our generation can show the rest of the country what Americans truly stand for.

I’m a seventeen-year-old. I couldn’t vote in this election, but I have spent the past months following this election with the hopes that I would be watching the election of our first female president of the United States. Watching the glass ceiling be shattered for the commander in chief of our country would have been unbelievable. Although that did not play out, this election sparked my interest in politics and advocating for what I believe in. Watching Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College was painful, but it made me more passionate about protecting minority rights and shattering the glass ceiling.

I saw many feminists and other supporters of Hillary Clinton upset over the results of the election. Being angry and upset over this election will not make us any stronger, but turning that anger into action can protect the ideals this country was founded on. We can be the ones to push for protection of the religious, political and social rights of all people. This is our opportunity to get involved in politics and use our voices to fight for what is right.

Although it is easy for us to be scared about the future, we must not let this stop from following politics. This election has shown us how much a vote does count and how much we do have a voice in politics. So, four years from now, we will act differently in the presidential election because of this outcome. But for the next four years, we must keep the United States as a country for us to be proud of. We must teach younger kids to be kind and keep an open mind. We must show them that America is not all racist and sexist, but accepting and open.