When I believe in something, I put my whole entire heart, body, and soul into it. The way I see it is that life is too short to not invest yourself fully into the things you love and believe in. I have been passionate about what I believe in since I was young. It started with "sermons" at my Unitarian Universalist Church when I was 5 where I would get up in front of everyone in church and just tell them about my dogs or my friends at school, but it was what I loved and I was passionate about that.
I am now an 18 year old freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University and what I am passionate about has changed a lot. One of my biggest passions is social justice and human rights. So naturally when it came time to back a presidential candidate I choose Hillary Clinton.
Like I said before, when I believe in something, I put my whole entire heart, body, and soul into it. So since August 2016 I have put my heart, body, and soul into her campaign. I made hundreds of phone calls reminding people to vote and encouraging them to vote for Hillary, registered hundreds of students to vote at my university, and knocked on hundreds of doors.
Election day was basically like Christmas for me, I was so excited. I woke up early and volunteered that morning making sure everyone at my campus knew where their voting location was and encouraged people to stay in line, even if it was two hours long. When it was finally time to vote it felt like it was a test I had been cramming for and nailed. I knew everything on that ballot down to how I was voting for both amendment changes and who I was voting for for school board.
The problem about being passionate about what you love, is that when you don't get what you were fighting for it is literally heart breaking. I sat in my friend's dorm room crying as each state turned red. I couldn't believe everything I had fought for was being ripped away. All the work I had done to ensure that America would continue down the amazing path Obama had paved was being ripped away. I was getting text and calls from those closest to me, it was a mixture of fear and sorrow. Even my conservative father was calling to make sure I was okay and sounded sad.
The next day was devastating. I went to bed knowing that Trump was going to win and woke up with the confirmation that he did. I went to each of my classes silently thinking about how the future was going to be now. I didn't want to talk to anyone or even fully accept what had happened.
That night I was going to sleep early, emotionally and physically exhausted when I heard a crowd of people outside. It was a protest of hundreds, almost thousands, all fighting to ensure that people felt self. Chants of "Muslim lives Matter", "Black lives Matter", "Women's rights are Human rights" echoed throughout Richmond. People were in their pajamas holding up homemade signs walking up and down the streets of Richmond. Joining that protest is what really helped me feel better. Walking up and down the streets of Richmond, I realized that no matter how much hate Trump's campaign brought, the love people felt would always be there to fight back.
I was always planning on getting my Political Science degree and working to fight for human rights, but for about 18 hours I was rethinking everything. I thought that if the country had elected someone so full of hate, that there was nothing I could possibly do to help. But now I realize that this is only more motivation for me to finish my degree, I am ready to be a women in politics who will make a difference. Until I get to that point I am ready to fight, I will protest, write petitions, and do whatever it takes to make sure that love holds out and that everyone can feel safe in their own country.
