The day after a night of going out with friends always tends to result in a specific type of morning. You’re tired, probably didn’t sleep well, your head hurts and all you want to do is stay in bed and ignore any bit of reality. Now, since I am under 21 and have obviously never experienced this before (that ones for you mom), I can only assume that these morning-after experiences are not enjoyable. But, November 9th 2016, I happened to wake up with these exact same symptoms. Therefore, I think it is appropriate to dub this an “Election Hangover."
November 9th 2016, (a.k.a. the day after the presidential election results) was hands down one of the strangest days of my life. The results of the election were an obvious reason that the day began feeling off. Trump getting elected seemed unimaginable, and yet it had become a reality merely hours before I woke up. Now, I personally would rather not talk about the results of the election. However, I feel that I should at least address the fact that I was not happy with what happened. I felt (and honestly still do feel) helpless, frustrated, confused and nervous. But I, and many others, could go on about that for far too long. What I really want to address here was the state of my campus the day after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.
I go to school at the University of Portland in Oregon. Now, when people think of “Portland, Oregon” many visualize Birkenstock wearing, Kombucha drinking, liberal hipsters. However, UP is a private Catholic institution, so there are aspects of the school that would be considered conservative. However, there were only a small amount of students (and nearly no faculty) that I personally knew who were open supporters of Trump.
The weather in Portland also tends to range on what people may identify as “the gloomy side." However, recently, it has been nothing but blue skies and the perfect amount of sun. But strangely enough, the day after the election, there was the strangest vibe on campus that no rainy, grey day could compare to. It I had to use one word to describe the overall feel, it would be…"weird."
The academic quad seemed still, the residence halls were quiet and the election was definitely an elephant in the room for every single class of mine. Some professors decided to address it in depth, some made quick comments and others simply started class, stating that we would not be discussing it. It was, once again, very weird.
I saw maybe two or three students proudly wearing “Make America Great Again” paraphernalia. I personally don’t even want to discuss them any more than just that.
I received a surprisingly large amount of emails from hall directors, professors and even the president of the university that shared comforting words, and pleads for respect. Every group of people I walked past were all discussing the same subject matter, none of whom seemed thrilled.
I ran into way too many people I knew that were crying because of the results. And whatever their reasons for that were, it makes me feel uneasy knowing that the amount of disappointment and fear that surround our nation’s future has already impacted this many people.
While many campuses protested, and (depending on where you go to school) some celebrated, I found the after effect on my campus to be an extremely appropriate one. An overall vibe of confusion, sadness and worry sums up this election results fairly well.
It’s just a bummer that a couple Advil and a Gatorade can’t fix this one.
