I was going through some old notebooks the other day and I stumbled across this poem I wrote during my senior year in high school. I am not really sure what motivated me to write it then, but I feel that it is extremely relevant given the state of things in America in 2016. So, I dedicate this to all of my fellow Americans. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or the job you do. We all help to shape this country every day. Be kind to one another and embrace the differences before it's too late.

I am the class clown

Everyone said one day I would wear a frown

Well who would have thought me to wear the big business crown

Though quite a character

I am America.

I am the teenage unwed mother

Rather than talk to me you'd talk to all the others

Now ten years later I have a loving husband and my little girl has a baby brother

Though quite a character

I am America.

I am a Baptist preacher

Every Sunday I become your life's teacher

From ants to eagles I value every living creature

Though quite a character

I am America.

I am a Rock 'N' Roll singer

When life gets tough I solve my problems by ordering a "stinger"

People love my music but all the tabloids have labeled me as a career drinker

Though quite a character

I am America.

I am the journalist who writes the news you read

"Just tell the story" is my life's creed

My main goal in life is to help erase all the greed

Though quite a character

I am America.

I am the solider who helped save your lives

I always said I wasn't afraid to die

But when my Heavenly Father called me home I had to force myself not to cry

Though quite a character

I am America.

I am black, I am white

One is dark, the other light

I come from Italy, France, Japan

My parents sent me here from Afghanistan

I am among the first people to walk this great land

Most of my ancestors have been washed away like the sand

Though quite a group of characters

We are ALL America.