The 2016 Presidential Election was the first time I have ever voted, and I am scared. I live in Boston, an extremely liberal city. Here, nobody thought Trump even had a chance at winning; it was almost a joke at times. But now, I, along with millions of others, am shocked. I guess I’ve just been living in a bubble on my college campus. Every day, I am influenced and surrounded by thousands of incredibly open-minded, diverse individuals. I can count on one hand the amount of Trump supporters I have encountered.

When the election results came on, I couldn’t help but be taken aback. Where were these 55 million people who were voting for Trumpcoming from? My home state of Pennsylvania even went red. It didn’t make sense.

I’ve done a lot of thinking the past few days. Before now, I’ve never been a really political person. I used to be embarrassed about it. If you were to ask me a question about foreign or fiscal policies, I would look at you with a blank face. But this election was so much more than that. This time around, social issues were just as prominent, if not more prominent, than other years. I’m not going to go off and bash some of the things that Trump has said because I am sure we are all well aware of these comments and actions.

I am shocked that half of our country (well not exactly half, since Clinton did win the popular vote) could vote for an individual who has, time and time again, shown a lack of respect for African-Americans, women, Latinos, the LGBTQ+ community, Muslims, the list goes on and on. Of course, most Trump supporters are not racist, xenophobic, homophobic and sexist like him. Many who voted for him even acknowledged that he has these characteristics, yet they still found him a better candidate than Hillary. This proves to me that our country is not as progressive as I thought it was.

I know this election brought a lot more into question than just social issues. But I can’t help but think of all of the people that I love, family and friends, who would be hurt and directly affected by the policies brought by Donald Trump and Mike Pence. To me, the damage they will bring socially far outweighs any other policies they could have.