Excited. Eager. Liberated.
Those are the emotions I felt when I woke up on November 8, 2016. This day marks my first voting experience. This was my chance to make a difference in the world. Or so I thought. I went about my normal routine: first class at 11:00 am to 12:15 pm, huge 3 hour break in between, last class at 3:30 to 4:45 pm. As soon as I was dismissed from my final class, I drove straight home. All I could feel was my eagerness to get to my designated polling place. To cast my ballot - vote for my next president. The next president who would be leading our country. The next president who would be setting an example for the future generations - becoming their role model- someone they would look up to and aspire to become; that was the kind of president I was voting for.
When I got to the polling place everything was unfamiliar. It was nothing at all like I had imagined it to be. I walked in, gave the person sitting at the table my information and proceeded to the next step. The next gentlemen debriefed me on what exactly I needed to on the ballot and I was ready to go. But, one look at that ballot, and with every bubble I bubbled in, I couldn't help but feel as if I was casting my entire life away. I’m not gonna lie I was sweating A LOT. I realized, in that moment, just how serious two pieces of paper were to the future of the American people. I read each question carefully. I voted for the candidates whom I believed fit best for each occupation. Finally, I was ready to have those two very important pieces of papers scanned and counted among the many other voters in the United States. It struck me, as the machine sucked in my ballot, that there was no going back - it was all over. I received my “I voted/ Yo Vote” sticker and went home.
I felt so proud, so responsible, yet, so anxious...I arrived at home but the anticipation was killing me. I opened Facebook and everyone was talking about election day. Everyone was posting statuses, preaching about how important it is to go out and vote - no matter what, no excuses. Everyone was uploading pictures with their stickers as proof and captioning them “I voted!!” Everyone was so excited about this day and we were all connected through this one significant day. At about 9 o’clock, I turned on my TV and I watched the election results as they were coming in. State by state. By about 10:30 pm I was too exhausted to continue watching, I had fallen asleep without noticing - oops.
Shocked. Speechless. Worried.
The next morning at 4:58 am I woke up. Hundreds of new posts from family and friends appeared on my newsfeed on Facebook. Donald Trump New President-Elect. I couldn’t believe it. Within hours my entire life was flipped upside down. For those of you reading this who support Trump, let me tell you why my world was turned upside down. Throughout Trump’s entire campaign he not only identified himself as someone who was a misogynist but, he also targeted my religion. Being an Arab, a Muslim, a Syrian, and a woman, I was in no way going to support this candidate. And - what is even more disturbing - the number of women who voted for him after hearing the degrading and sexist comments. I just couldn’t believe it. How could you vote for someone who said something like “grab her by the p***y?” And then, what came as even more of a shock is when I discovered some of my Arab/Muslim friends and family were supporters of this candidate. You could only imagine how I felt.
Betrayal. Hurt. Anger.
This candidate, proved himself to be a racist, sexist, and bigot. This candidate directly and bluntly came out and said things like he wanted to register all Muslims. When I stepped into that polling place, I was in no way thinking that such a candidate would win this election. This is supposed to be America - home of the free, land of opportunity. The America I woke up to, traveled back in time. The America I woke up to is repeating history. The America I woke up to is not the America I thought I lived in. But, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe now, because of this, we are able to see that people were simply hiding behind a mask to cover up their racism and sexism and bigotry.
Since Trump has been elected, people have begun planning protests against him. Many are trying to figure out ways to prevent president-elect Trump from officially becoming president. And, many have been trying to come terms with the fact that he is just going to be president. But, no matter the way in which you are dealing with this situation, always remember that love is the most powerful thing. And love is what our country needs to be spreading the most during this time.
