Few are happy. Most are enraged. Does that mean that we should drop everything and panic? No. It means that now, more than ever, we need to stick together, help our peers, and rise up to the occasion. There are still things to be done in this country, and we've had bad presidents before. That being said, I understand why most people are upset. I'm upset. It's sad that sexism, racism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and more terrible occurrences are so easily accepted in America. It's sad that we have a president who wants to repeal marriage equality and remove funding from Planned Parenthood. It's terrifying to think soon I may not be able to afford my birth control pills, thus I'll eventually become anemic again. It makes my heart ache, but in the end, we still have it better than other countries. That doesn't make it okay, sure, but think: it could honestly be so much worse. Protesting against Trump being president at this point more than likely won't do anything, however, there are always midterm elections, and of course, there's 2020. The only way to keep people that you don't like out of office is to vote for those who you do like. It's also important that we do our research instead of simply voting for who our friends and/or family are voting for.
Don't be cruel to those who voted third party. Don't be cruel to anybody. What will it do except create more turmoil and stir more hatred? You can stand up for what you believe in without being terrible to others. I could choose to let the results of this election depress me, make me feel worthless like I did the first two days. I could choose to stay home from class due to fear, I could let it get to me, but I choose to keep my head up and keep it moving. I know it's not as easy as it sounds. I know that the next four years are definitely going to be hard on a lot of people, myself included as an African American in the LGBT community, but we can't let it stop us. We all have a voice. Maybe it's time to use it. And to those similar to how I'm feeling who know of people who are passive about this, or people who are reading this who are passive on the situation, don't feel bad about it. I wish I had the ability to be passive about this situation, but it simply affects me and too many of my friends too deeply for me to feel that way. You're not a bad person for not having strong feelings about the election. Carry on.
