Almost 100 years after women gained the right to vote in the United States of America, a woman has become the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee for the first time; as she herself has stated, she is within reach of cracking the “highest, hardest glass ceiling.” Hillary Clinton is within reach of becoming the first female president. On her journey to cracking the highest ceiling in our nation, Hillary has already shattered a ceiling that no woman in America’s 240 years of existence has managed to crack: becoming the assumed nominee for a major political party in a general election. No female in America’s history has previously achieved this.

This is quite historic. Whether or not Hillary Clinton has your support, it cannot be denied that this is a huge step for our people and our country as a whole. In a time when our nation has made so many steps forward and — regrettably — almost as many steps backwards, we should take a moment to appreciate and be excited by Hillary’s accomplishments.

Clinton’s success this campaign season shows how things have changed in one hundred years, fifty years, and even in the last ten years. By shattering this glass ceiling and getting progressively closer to the “highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she’s showing girls, women, and people of all ages and genders that they can actually be anything they want. Young girls have often heard they can be and do anything they want when they grow up, to reach for the stars, but they’ve never before seen an example of a female president and representation is important. Hillary Clinton, though, is on her way to becoming that example; she’s aiming for that glass ceiling.

Just a few decades and generations ago, it never occurred to some women that a female could become president, and now, Hillary is headed in the direction of successfully accomplishing this. As a Bernie Sanders supporter myself, I’m having to adjust to the growing likelihood of voting for Hillary in the general election but I do completely applaud the possibility of a female president; it'd be awesome.

Her progress throughout this election matters because it could encourage more women to get involved and run for office, to bring a better representation of the American population. It shows women that they can enter into fields that have previously been dominated by men and that we can truly do whatever we can dream. Even though she still has a while to go before smashing the “highest, hardest glass ceiling,” along with actually being voted in as the Democrat presidential nominee, her progress is progress for our country and progress for all of us.