For weeks leading up to the election, I pictured the moment in my head. I pictured myself walking into the church at which I am assigned to vote and confidently voting for the candidate I was sure I wanted to win. Instead, I was given the choice between two candidates that I was not at all happy with. Through years of American history classes, I learned about the many strong leaders and crazy election stories, and I was always excited to participate in one when the time came. Although this election was anything but boring, it was not at all what I pictured it being.
Everyone I talked to about voting seemed so sure about who they wanted to win, but for me there was never an obvious choice. I saw friends turn on friends just because of who they were voting for. I was so scared to say who I was voting for, or not voting for, for that matter. Living in Pittsburgh, it seemed to be mostly democratic, but the majority of other students I talked to planned to vote for Donald Trump. In the end, I took my mom's advice in keeping my opinions to myself, since talking about it would not change my political views anyway. I was honestly just excited to go cast my vote.
I walked into the church late Tuesday night, and looked around to see what it was exactly like. I walked up to the table and displayed my ID and proceeded to one of the ballot machines. After a woman explained to me how it worked, I officially voted for the party I felt best represented my views.
I stayed up for, what seemed to be forever, watching the competition grow closer and closer. I never expected it to be so close. Once Trump was announced as the 45th president of the United States, I was completely blown away, but went to bed feeling just as excited as I was when I first voted, knowing that my vote was actually counted for an election. I had not even voted for Trump and I was still excited for what was to come.
The following morning, all anyone talked about was the election. I couldn't understand the anger everyone felt, considering they hated Trump before he has ever been given a chance to change anything. Of course I don't agree with all of his values, otherwise I would have voted for him, but I did not see any point in being angry and the thought of protesting never crossed my mind. After all, America voted and Trump won. There was nothing else to it.
I felt proud to be an American citizen and be able to vote in my first election process, regardless of the outcome. We as citizens have to come together to truly make a difference and create a better world to live in. I will never forget each small detail leading up to the election because it was the first time I truly felt like my voice and opinion meant something.
