The 2016 Presidential Election was perhaps the most controversial of all time. The campaigns of Hillary Clinton and presidential-elect, Donald Trump, were arguably the most aggressive, the most loathsome, the most heinous, and the yet, most important of all time.

However, in the midst of all of this contention, I, as well as many others, made the decision to vote neither. Morally, I could not bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton, nor could I bring myself to vote for Donald Trump. I could not bring myself to vote for a corrupt liar or a racist bigot.

Many will make the argument that I voted third party out of privilege, because regardless of who won, this election did not affect me directly. This could not be further from the truth. I am a millennial, and I am a woman. I care about politics, and I care about the future of our nation. I care about equality, and I care about the sanctity of our nation, as well as the tradition it was built upon. There is not a day that goes by that I do not value my right to vote. However, I refuse to conform to the two-party system because YOU feel that these are my “only two choices that matter”. I refuse to vote for one of the two primary candidates because YOU feel that is where my vote is most influential. I refuse to choose between the lesser of two evils when I have so many more options to choose from.

Personally, I am sick and tired of people telling me that I “wasted my vote”. In the 2016 election, I chose to place my vote with the candidate whose ideals best aligned with mine. The last time I checked, The United States of America is a FREE country, and democracy is still defined as democracy even if YOU do not agree with where I CHOSE to place MY Constitutional right to vote. Nor does it even moderately concern you. Regardless of what you think, this is NOT was Susan B. Anthony went to Seneca Falls to fight for. My right to vote is one I hold dear. And frankly, I do not even moderately CARE about your opinion, nor does it change whom I filled MY bubble in for on MY ballot.

Regardless of where you placed your vote, we must all accept the reality that America’s future involves a land where we refer to the man formerly known as “The Donald” as “President Trump”. Democrats, Republicans, you have no one to blame but yourselves. Democrats, you should feel defeated. You chose to nominate the one person to represent your party that could have possibly been unlikable enough to be defeated by Donald Trump (Bernie would have blown him away). Republicans, you should feel lost. I’m ashamed that this was your choice of nominee. You should never have let it get this far. I hope that as a nation, we can come together, because frankly, at this point, that is the only option we have.

America deserves a woman President, and I truly think our nation is ready. They are ready for a woman who is intelligent, a woman who is honest; a woman who represents the values of this country that I feel is so great. I will wait for a woman who sincerely deserves to be the leader of the greatest nation in the world. And when that woman comes, she will have my vote without question. I hope that day comes far sooner than later. But, until that day comes, we must face actuality. Hate does not breed change. We can only hope for a better tomorrow.