The University of Kentucky falls in a beautiful commonwealth lined with trees, horse parks and rivers. On the map, it is right in between Ohio and Tennessee. On the electoral map, it usually never fails to be red.

My mother always raised me with two general ideas: 1. Do what makes you happy and 2. People matter just as much as you do.

Going to school in the south has proved difficult for me politically. Although big cities tend to lean left, and Lexington is no exception, many people that attend the University of Kentucky represent the state in its... redness.

Here are some of my opinions that, in light of the recent change in presidents, are more often than not criticized by my peers. Many of these are opinionated, but I will leave some sources, just in case you want the facts that backs up my thoughts.

Trump is NOT that great of a businessman.

Here are 24 business ventures from Trump himself that didn't work.

1. Trump Villas, Grenadines
2. Trump Tower, Tampa, FL
3. Mississippi Casino
4. Trump Atlanta
5. Trump Ocean Resort, Baja
6. Trump at Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
7. Trump Financial
8. Trump Philadelphia
9. Trump Dubai Tower, United Arab Emirates
10. Trump on the Ocean
11. Trump Tower, Batumi, Georgia
12. Trump Plaza Tower, Israel
13. GoTrump.com travel booking service
14. US Pro Golf Tour partnership
15. Sentient Jet partnership
16. Running Horse golf, Fresno
17. Trump animated series
18. Trump magazine
19. "Trump Tycoon" mobile app
20. Trump network
21. Trump Institute
22. Trump Steaks by Sharper Image
23. Trump Office for Staples chairs
24. Brand licensing in Brazil

In fact, it's estimated that his net worth has fallen $1 billion over the last year. (Source: ) I can guarantee you that if he has the opportunity to save his own money, he will. Trump's tax plan will definitely benefit the top one percent, without question. This is due largely in part to his plan to repeal the estate tax.

(Sources: http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-businesses-failures-successes-2016-10/#24-projects-the-times-concluded-didnt-work-out-1, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-net-worth-falls-1-billion-latest-forbes-list-article-1.3003377, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/04/26/trumps-tax-proposal-what-it-means-for-the-rich-for-the-world-and-for-you/?utm_term=.75a9803f5ef9)

I believe in feminism.

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” -Audre Lorde

Stop pretending that the radical represent the group. We're all pretty tired of it. If you're going to act like 'feminazis' represent all of feminism, then white guys who shoot up schools represent all of white men. Now that we've cleared that up, here is the definition of feminism: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. What that means is that women have the right to do everything that men can do. In my opinion, women can do anything men can do, but they can do it in heels. That's beside the point. I don't believe that men should be paid between 28 and 20 cents (the difference in eight cents is based on race, by the way) more for the SAME JOB just because they have a penis. I do not believe in the glass ceiling, which prevents qualified minorities (gender and race) from advancing in the workplace. I do not believe in the second shift, in which women work full time jobs, just as men do and have to go back home and perform child care and housework. I do not believe in a group of men deciding what women can and cannot do with their bodies. I do not believe that just because you don't want to have an abortion that any other women shouldn't have the opportunity to do so. I do not believe in inequality. I believe in women.

(Sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminism, http://personal.psc.isr.umich.edu/yuxie-web/files/pubs/Greenman-Xie2008.pdf, http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/383017-i-am-not-free-while-any-woman-is-unfree-even)

I do not support the Second Amendment.

The only valid argument I have ever heard in favor of the Second Amendment is that criminals would acquire them anyway, legal or not. Okay, I get that. However, this year in the US there have been 29,597 incidents involving gun violence that have resulted in 7,335 deaths. There have been 167 mass shootings in 2017. In Australia, after the 1997 gun control reform law, there has been NO MASS SHOOTINGS (through May of 2016.) There has to be some credit in the evidence. Gun control CAN and WILL work. You don't need a gun to protect you from the monsters under your bed. Now, let's address the famous, 'guns don't kill people, people kill people.' That's 100% true! People do kill people. People that kill people are also criminals! HOWEVER, if that person pointed a banana at you, beat you with it, threw it at you, God, even if they shoved it where the sun don't shine you wouldn't die. So people kill people, yes, but people kill people with the weapons we allow.

(Source: http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/, http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/no-mass-shootings-australia-20-years-how-did-they-do-n597091)

I believe that people matter.

I believe that every good person has a right to live. I believe that every good person deserves to be a human being. Sure, all lives matter, but the reason we're emphasizing that black lives matter is because white people haven't been oppressed in this country since the indentured servants in the 1600s. Don't worry, no one has forgotten about us! Let people speak their languages, let people practice their religion. If it's not hurting you, if it's not hurting anyone else, let it be. You are not hurt by customer service offering a Spanish option if you press 2. In fact, only 40% of the world is monolingual (meaning they only speak one language.) That means 60% of the world can speak more than one! Isn't that amazing? Someone practicing Islam shouldn't scare you because you're afraid of extremism. I could make the KKK-Christianity parallel again, but you read it earlier. People in the LGBT+ community deserve the right to marry, deserve not to be persecuted. Black people deserve to have their girlfriend and child in the car, follow every law after being pulled over, warn the police officer that he does have a firearm and NOT get shot. No one is superior. Please stop behaving like you are.

I am not a snowflake. My political beliefs are firmly backed and I'll strongly support them. I'll argue my point, but I have an open mind to change, as all people should. I don't need a 'safe space' because I believe in humanity. I don't support Republicanism because, in my experience, the beliefs of the party of often rooted in religion and in the self-superiority of the members. Religion and politics should never mix and nobody matters more than someone else because of their views. I am no better than my Republican counterparts at school in blue states because of my beliefs. They are no better than me.

However, going to school in the Bible Belt makes it difficult for me to express the way that I feel because not everyone sees others the way that I do. I am a liberal going to school in a red state.