Donald Trump has officially won the presidential election and this leaves many wondering what to do now. As a nation, how can we move forward when Trump’s views on certain populations of people leave them so far behind?

I had a very interesting and eye opening discussion about the election in one of my classes with one of my professors. She had a difficult time, like many of us, accepting the results of the election. It seems so surreal knowing Trump actually won the majority of America. But what my professor reminded my class was that we need to stay united, respect other’s opinions, and simply be kind.

Now is the time more than ever that we need to stay united as a nation. We cannot let Trump and his beliefs represent our nation. We need to show everyone that we will not stand for racial aggression, discrimination against women, or overall not accepting certain people. Trump may have won the election, but we still live in a democratic nation, meaning our voices matter. Show your voice, stand up for others, and do not stand for inequality for anyone.

In a time when it can be extremely difficult to accept people’s opinions, it is important to remember that we need to respect their opinions. My professor brought up a really great point here. She said that there are some Trump supporters that do not support his personal beliefs about different races, women, etc. They only support Trump for his political concepts and ideas he wants to use as president. It’s important to be respectful if we want respect in return. Despite our anger and sadness as a nation, I believe we can still be respectful toward others.

The last thing is simply to be kind to one another. It is absolutely unacceptable to discriminate against others or say mean and aggressive things. Now is the time to prove that love really does trump hate. So love one another, be there for one another, and be kind to one another.

This has definitely been one of the craziest elections we’ve faced as a nation. It seems like no one really knows what to do now. And it is difficult to know what to do! With so much hate and anger, it feels like we need to direct it toward someone. However, we cannot direct it toward one another. Let’s try to stay united, be respectful, and be kind so we can really show the world just how amazing we can be.