On July 28, 2016, Hillary Clinton took the stage at the Democratic National Convention to accept her party’s nomination to run for president of the United States. A teary-eyed crowd watched as Clinton made history as the first woman to run on a major party’s ticket. My eyes grew rather misty too as I listened to her speech and I was filled with admiration for her leadership abilities, poise and courage, but this admiration was not the reason I was emotional. For the first time in history, a woman had a chance to become the leader of the free world and I was getting to witness (and actively support) a major step towards equality in our great nation.
The entire convention was incredibly moving for me, watching other strong female leaders take the stage to speak about the country I love. Michelle Obama, one of my many idols, spoke eloquently when she said, “Our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.” This line in particular spoke volumes to me as a young woman, voting in my first election. It was only 96 short years ago that women finally won the long battle for the right to vote in our nation. The fight is not yet over, but here I stand in 2016 able to vote for a woman who embodies my core values and has worked her entire life to be rewarded by a nomination from her party and from her country.
I worry that young women my age do not realize what a giant leap our society has taken in the direction to molding the words of the Constitution from, “All men are created to equal,” to, “All people are created equal.” I worry that as Michelle Obama said, we will take this historic moment for granted. To appreciate this moment, you do not have to be a democrat. You do not have to cast a vote for Hillary just because she is a woman. You don’t even have to be a female. But you do have to appreciate the fact that, in our great nation, anything is possible through hard work. You do have to appreciate that the idea of the “American Dream” is becoming a reality for more and more Americans regardless of color, gender, religion or other differences. You also have to realize that the work is not yet over, and until every hard working American is able to realize their dreams, we must keep fighting.
For me, a Hillary nomination means hope. It inspires me to strive for my wildest dreams and it makes me proud to be an American. It assures me that in the future, I will be judged on my qualifications and my hard work, not my gender. The fire in my belly has been ignited and I hope that, regardless of our differences, my generation has been fired up to continue the fight for equality in this country. I support Hillary because I believe in her ability to lead our country and my views are closely aligned with hers. I am not voting for her because she is a woman. I do not admire her because of her gender. Hillary is more than qualified to be the president of the United States but being a woman does not qualify her. I am proud to support her but she happened to be in the right place at the right time. My real source of pride is in our country, for seeing past gender and looking at her beliefs and previous hard work. America is changing for the better and I am honored to be a part of that movement.
