Editor’s Note: All articles for Her Campus OR State are the opinions and beliefs of the writers and do not reflect Her Campus OR State, the Oregon State University or Her Campus as an international magazine
Dear Barack Obama,
It’s official, on November 8th we found out who replaces you. You’ve ran this country for eight years and to think that in January you’ll be moving on is sad. The year you officially came into office we were still going through the recession. Our country was broken and people were lost. Many rejected you and didn’t want to give you the chance. I’m not going to sit here and say I wasn’t skeptical, but you have since proved yourself and for that I just wanted to say thank you.
Thank you for creating $1.9 million every year, for putting your beliefs aside and making same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, and for not giving up even though our country didn’t seem to be ready for a black president just yet. Thank you to you and your family for staying respectable during your time in the White House and coming out of this with no scandals; for pushing for a national healthcare even though many were against it. Regarding immigration, I know that at the beginning you did deport a lot of immigrants. However, you soon changed your policy, which gave these illegal immigrants a chance to apply for citizenship without getting in trouble. Thank you for doing what you could, even though some of your promises couldn’t happen because Republicans took over the Senate and Congress.
Thank you for showing that just because you are president doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. You can stay up to date on pop culture: inviting Viners and Youtubers to the White House, being involved on Twitter. It was nice to see someone try to relate to the younger generation to let them know that they aren’t being overlooked. Michelle as well, who worked hard trying to lower the rates of childhood obesity. Encouraging kids to go out and play and making the “Let’s Move!” program to educate kids on how to be healthy. You were a great duo who looked at every part of the nation rather than just focusing solely on one group of people.
Most importantly, I want to thank you for being the first black president in the White House. The day you were inaugurated was amazing. My little 11 year-old self was so excited to finally see people in the White House who looked like me. It was a big day in history when you were able to be president for not only one term but two. Many kids look up to you because you proved to them that just because you didn’t grow up in the best circumstances doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your dreams.
I hope your replacment keeps moving our country forward and not backward.
How do you feel now that President Obama is leaving office? Let us know in the comments below!