The 2016 Election From The Eyes of a Student Abroad

I am a United States citizen who usually lives in New Jersey however I am currently living and studying in Granada, Spain. This is the first presidential election that I have ever been able to vote in and living in another country did not stop me from doing so. I voted by absentee ballot and even though it was a little more difficult to do, it was worth it. 

I voted for Hillary Clinton because of many reasons but first and foremost I voted for her because she was the most qualified candidate. For a long time, I would talk about the fact that both candidates were problematic and that Hillary was the lesser of two evils however, as time went by, I realized that this was not the case. Whereas one of the candidates was talking about hate and returning America to the past, the other candidate was talking about love and moving forward. I can easily respect someone who has different beliefs than me. I do not look down on others for wanting a small government or having conservative ideals. I do, however, find it hard to understand someone when they support a person who is vocal about his hatred and disrespect for specific groups of people. 

The night of the election, I stayed up all night watching updates. I don't think that I have ever been as nervous as I was that night. When I walked to my 8:30am class (Spanish time), it was pretty obvious that Donald Trump was America's president-elect. I was exhausted and upset. I was desperately trying to hold back tears. When I got to class, some of my friends and I were talking about what was going to happen and we were all in awful states of mind. Thankfully, my class was a politics class so we were able to discuss and get some of our feelings out. My professor kept apologizing to us. It was incredibly difficult for me to focus all day long and if I'm being honest, it is still hard for me to focus because in the back of my mind, all I can think about is what is happening and what is going to happen in the future. My host mom, who doesn't usually like to talk about politics, kept saying that this was going to affect the whole world. 

Because I live in Spain, I do not see the complete effects of this election face to face. I walk down the street and everything is okay. But then, I enter my classroom filled with other American students who are upset. I walk into the bathroom and find people crying because they are scared. I think about my friends at home who are hurting and I don't know what to do. One girl in my class, who voted for Trump, was trying to say that Donald Trump won't be able to do any of the things that he says that he will and that no one should be worried. I sincerely hope that all that Donald Trump has said and done so far has been an elaborate scheme and that he can lead with dignity and respect for everyone. While I pray that that will be the case, it might not be reality because the reality is that Trump has a Republican House and Senate that may support him fully. They have the power to reverse all of the advances that have been put in to place in the past 8 years. Our country was nowhere near perfect, but at least we were moving forward and now I am worried that all of that has changed.

I keep reading Facebook statuses saying that it will be okay and that people need to relax and to that I say that we are only 2 days out from the election and things are already not okay. I think that it is easy for these people to say that everything will be okay because they have not been (and may not be) affected but many people are hurting. People are being physically and emotionally hurt and that is horrible to think about. Because Donald Trump won the election, people think that it is okay to rip people's hijabs off. They think that it is okay to treat women poorly. They think that it is okay to tell people to leave the country. They think that it is okay to use racial slurs. They think it is okay to physically hurt someone. They think that it is okay and it is not. The thing that scares me most about Donald Trump winning isn't Donald Trump himself, it's what he inspires other people to do. Racist people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. Sexist people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. Homophobic people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. Hateful people all across America now have a president-elect with similar ideals. These people's hateful ideals have just been justified. All of that is horrifying to me and I am worried. 

I think as a nation we HAVE to spread love. We cannot allow our president elect to define us. We have to break that mold. We have to treat everyone equally and respectfully. Everyone is different but no one should be afraid because of their differences. We have to show our neighbors that they are worth more. We have to let those who are hurting know that it is okay to be hurting in a time like this but that we can stand up and fight for what we believe in. We can fight for their rights and we can fight for our own rights. I pray that America can spread love and show the world that we are not who represents us.

"We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger
We rise and fall and light from dying embers,
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, 
cannot be killed or swept aside."

-Lin-Manuel Miranda

Thanks for reading,
Kelly