The night of Election Day, sent me to bed around 9 p.m., half because I had to get up at 4 a.m. for work and half because the stress and anxiety of watching the votes coming in might have been too much for me. However, at 2 a.m. my mom came running into my room and told me "I think he is going to win." Half asleep I said, "don't joke about that." But my mom was not kidding in the slightest. I tried to go back to sleep, tossing and turning in my bed, reluctant to check my phone to see such results. Two hours later I awoke for work with a feeling of remorse. I was feeling like someone I loved had passed away or something too tragic to speak of, had occurred.
When I got to work at 4:45 a.m. and then opened the doors at 5, there was such silence over the gym. People didn't know whether to bring it up or let it go. While Massachusetts became a blue state, it wasn't perfect and so which neighbor, friend, or peer had voted red? Do we dare ask?
Thankful I had CNN on one of the TVs, I began listening to how this "historic election" happened. I tried to stay positive, looking at the results of the questions, county commissioner, and others because I knew that politics are like a ladder. The bottom starts in your home town and state and it moves up from there. But how? How could polls be saying Hillary basically had this 'in the bag' for the polls to be more wrong?
I was never too vocal about my political views through the campaign, but I knew all along who'd I'd vote for. Even if my opposing party had the better beliefs (which I do not believe they did this time around), the way he acted towards others was such unacceptable behavior. He is a bully, a sexist, a racist, and a man that has not yet earned my respect. They say that you need to respect those in power, especially the one in that ultimate power seat, but I was taught from a young age that respect is earned, not given. And therefore, he has not earned my respect, nor do I see him earning it.
During my morning at work, a member, who would say to me "don't forget to vote for Hillary Tuesday!" said to me on Wednesday morning, "just be thankful you are a white woman. I am thankful I am at least a white man." While he was most certainly trying to reassure me of this uncertainty I now felt towards my country's future, I realized the god-awful truth that he was indeed right.
My heart ached for the many of us that do not fit in that white category. I myself come from a diverse background and have always been taught to accept everyone, no matter of sexual orientation, gender, or ethnicity. We all have one race and that would be the human race, so why do so many more believe that these differences can separate us?
She did win the popular vote and so I now question the integrity and need for the Electoral College. Perhaps an outdated system that we no longer need. But would I be saying this if the popular vote and Electoral College votes this time around were reversed? Probably not, but anything to make me understand how many people must have voted based on gender or on the belief that a man who is so unqualified for this position could make a great president.
The United States now faces a future of the unknown.
However way you look at this presidential election, the United States is practically split down the middle. We are going into the next four years as a divided front. But what I can say with certainty is that Hillary has indeed made history. My first time voting in a presidential election, I get to say that I voted for a woman. She has helped lay a foundation for young girls everywhere wanting to succeed in anything they put their minds too. She has lifted the mindsets of girls and young women wondering "can I really do this?" For that, I will always be thankful that Hillary Clinton ran in the 2016 Presidential Election.
The fight for equality is far from over.
