The past year has been one filled with questions. Are we going to make it? Will our democracy survive? Will my family be okay? Will my friends be okay? Will we be okay?

I have asked those questions more times in the past year than I did the entire time I grew up in a post-9/11 society. From the inauguration, to Russia, to the Border Wall, the Muslim Ban, Charlottesville, the impending nuclear war ticking clock, the rise of neo-Nazism, repealing DACA, the Tax Bill, and so many more, I truly have to wonder about the state of our country.

I can pinpoint the exact moment where I knew that this would be a rough year. It was the day of the Muslim Ban a year ago. I called my parents asking if my extended family would be okay.

"It is safe, right? It's going to be okay?" I asked.

"Of course it's safe," my parents should have replied.

Right?

My parents silence screamed through the phone.

Of course, they responded moments too late--I heard through their fake affirmations that they honestly didn't know. They lived through 9/11 and they knew they'd be okay, but here we are in 2017, and they cannot confidently say if everything will be okay.

They've lived through it all. They're immigrants. They've literally created their legacies from the bottom up. They've experienced more in 25 years than I will probably ever experience in my lifetime.

My story is neither rare nor unique; it is a story every immigrant family is familiar to. Every minority. Most, if not every, woman. Anyone currently dependent on government programs (of course, there are variations of my story).

A year ago, I truly did lose most of my hope for America. I was born and raised in the country that has now turned it's back on it's humanity. With a low voter turnout, especially within my age group, determining my future, I figured America was doomed since we really wanted to revert back to the Jim Crow laws.

Somehow, my guilty pleasure, Twitter, became the landscape for policy making. What was once a sanctuary is now a necessary tool for politics. Social media once filled with unrealistic millennials is now filled with political leaders in Twitter spats. It's still difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that nuclear war is on the horizon because our president likes to tweet at 3 AM.

When I, born and raised in America, was ready to throw in the towel on America, my parents and community brought me back to my senses. It's bittersweet to see so many communities bind together and new ones form in this climate because they are ready to fight for the rights they earned.

At the same time as our repayment, we repeal DACA and protection for immigrants, close our borders, build walls, and marginalize people further to Make America Great Again; what are we really doing?

When there is strife, immigrants don't run, they don't hide--they empathize, rebuild, and contribute. While this country simultaneously opens their arms to new people, one hand clutches the Constitution and the other grips a knife. We, as a country, thrive on the backs of immigrants. The American Dream is built on the struggles of immigrants. The States are only truly United with the integration of immigrants as they enrich this country and make us unique as the land of hope and opportunity.

So, before we turn our backs on those who lift us up, in 2018 let's think for a minute. Is this who we really are, America?