Last week, the United States of America elected Donald J. Trump to the office of President. I, along with many others in America, was shocked and concerned at the outcome of this election.

According to almost every poll released the week leading up to the election, Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton was projected to win, which would have made her the first female U.S. President. While Clinton did receive more of the popular vote than Trump, she did not have enough electoral votes to win the presidency. Trump, with 290 electoral votes, surpassed the 270 required to win as well as the 228 collected by Clinton.

Almost immediately following the results of the election, protests were held calling for the removal of Trump from office before he even got there. I saw social media posts of anger, fear, sadness, and disappointment.

As someone who did not vote for Trump, I was disappointed in the results of the election, too. I couldn’t believe that America let such a misogynistic man whose entire campaign seemed to be run on divisiveness become President. However, in the days that followed, I found that Donald himself seems to be humbled by the results of the election.

Some Humility for a Change

As Trump took the stage for his victory speech, I expected a conceited man to bask in the glory of his win while tearing to shreds his opponent. Instead, I found that he did the opposite. One of the first things he did in his speech was congratulate Hillary on a hard-fought campaign and announced the “debt of gratitude” that America owed his opponent for her service to this country.

This was a drastic change of attitude from a man who promised to personally see to it that Clinton be prosecuted for her mishandling of classified information. His speech continued to surprise me as he called for unity of all Americans and announced that he’d be seeking guidance from those who disagreed with him. In a 60 Minutes interview following the win, he said he’d consider seeking counsel from both Bill and Hillary Clinton calling them “a very talented family.”

In response to the protests outside Trump Tower in New York as well as in other cities across the nation, Trump released two tweets. The first read:

“Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

However, many were surprised by the tweet that followed almost nine hours later saying, “Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!”

I'm Still Hopeful

Almost every statement he’s released since becoming President-elect has contrasted the divisive rhetoric he constantly spewed on the campaign trail. I am becoming hopeful that he will truly be a President for all Americans like he declared in his victory speech. I did not vote for him, but I have accepted that he will be our President for at least the next four years. Instead of being fearful, I am choosing to hope for the best from our President-elect. During a meeting between our President-elect and President Obama, our current Commander-In-Chief told him, “If you succeed, America succeeds.”I believe that to be true as well. So, America, let’s take a deep breath. Let’s voice our concerns to each other and listen to different perspectives. Let’s pray that Donald Trump works for, and with all, Americans.