Last Tuesday night, I sat with my friends in the McBride Residence Hall lounge, awaiting news of the future state of our country and scrolling through Facebook reading article after article about how Hillary Clinton could become our nation’s first female president. I sat with my friends, wondering how anyone like reality TV star Donald Trump could have gotten this far in the election, eating gummy bears, and staying confident in what all the polls had been saying— Clinton would definitely win.
I sat with my friends in shock, watching as state after state elected misogynist, racist, xenophobe, Donald Trump, as the 45th President of the United States of America. I had gotten my hopes up too soon.
When this election cycle began, I remember watching both the Republican and Democratic debates in my AP U.S. Government class and thinking that there really weren’t any candidates behind whom I truly wanted to put my support. Even though this was the first election in which I could vote, I just couldn’t find it in myself to get excited about politics. I didn’t even vote in the primaries because even though I wanted to exercise my civic duty, I didn’t think it was right to vote for any candidate that I didn’t truly believe in.
It wasn’t until Trump was named the official Republican nominee that I realized I couldn’t be complacent about this election anymore. I had to put my support behind Clinton.
No, I didn’t agree with everything Clinton had done in the past and I didn’t share her every belief, but the thought of having Donald Trump, a man who is endorsed by the KKK, as our nation’s next president was a thought I couldn’t deal with.
So, I early voted in Ohio, I wore my sticker with pride, and I heard Tim Kaine speak about how if we could turn Ohio blue we would definitely win the presidency.
By the night of November 8th, I felt confident in Clinton’s presidency and overjoyed by the thought that after years of inequality a woman would finally be heading the White House. But that didn’t happen.
On Wednesday, Kenyon was a different place. I could tell that I was not the only person who had gotten my hopes up; it showed in the silence of the campus, the gloom of the weather.
My fellow students and I are deeply disappointed and saddened by the results of this election, but I refuse to allow them to keep me down for long. Hillary Clinton will not be the first female president of the United States. But in my lifetime, I know that I will see a woman in the White House. I know that one day women will receive equal pay for equal work. I know that one day, if I have a daughter, I will be able to raise her in a country that has opened its eyes and developed its mind enough to elect a woman as president.
This election did not turn out as I had planned, but I believe that one day, the women of this country will have a president that represents them rather than tears them down.
Image credits: can, women’s life today, Girl Scouts