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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

Dear America,

Never thought this day would come, right? It has been one hell of a crazy year, from the announcements of all the nominees for the Republicans to the amount for the Democrats, all of them trickling down to just two candidates. From those two people, we have seen the worst in America. We have seen riots, fights and horrid actions happen because of people and their choice of who they are voting for. We have seen plenty of wars on the internet and civilians clashing back and forth on who is better for this country as a leader, when both have their positives and negatives.

 

It is less than a week before the election of the new president of the United States of America.

 

But may I remind you of something important?

 

We have been a country, a truly independent nation, for two hundred and forty years. We have seen the revolution of the industry first hand, have seen buildings rise and fall and have seen the terror that can happen when people are scared. We have seen technology grow to something that is almost unimaginable to not have now. We have witnessed the comings and goings of leaders past.

 

All of us have read about the wars we have faced together as a nation, some of us still alive to tell the tale. We have been through two World Wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and many more. All of us have seen the moment when the Twin Towers dropped or the bombing that happened in Boston or have seen the shootings whether it was online, on the news or actually in person.

 

We have seen so much hardship in our young country, even to the point of being split down the line to fight for slave’s freedom back in the 1800s.

 

However, I must remind America of one thing. No matter what happens in less than a week, who gets voted into the White House, what happens in the next four years, that we are still a country founded on freedom and the ability to come together as one.

 

Although we have seen our downs, we have had our bad leaders, we have experienced first hand what true terror is like, we have come together as a nation to help each other when times have gotten tough. Although most of the time, all of us go on to live our daily lives, it is those moments that I cherish as an American am proud to say I am a part of this country.

 

It is when all of America came together after 9/11 to help rebuild the nation by donating their time to the families of the victims. It was after the Sandy Hook shooting that we all had efforts to help the school and those suffering families as well. It’s when I read about everything we did for civil rights back in the 1960s, for what we’ve done for women’s rights and what we have done for everyone.

 

It’s when I skim over my textbook of all the work we would do on the home-front during the wars such as supporting our troops, sending them care packages to make them feel more at home and doing their jobs while the men were gone fighting for our country. It’s when I watch newsreels online of all the relief efforts we made for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans back in 2005 and also when I think back to the relief after Hurricane Sandy, something that I saw the horror from first-hand.

 

It’s when I look at the beautiful people we have here, the teachers who inspire students, the doctors who save people’s lives, the engineers who create amazing things, the police officers, firemen and army workers who protect us on a daily basis, the mothers and fathers who teach their children the good in the world.

 

It is when I see all of this that I am proud to be an American.

 

During this rough time of the election, I want everyone to remember the good we have done throughout the past 240 years. I want people to remember the progress we have made and what we can do moving forward. I want everyone to remember that although we may have our differences, we are still one country united under God, indivisible, and that we have done amazing things, despite having great leaders or bad leaders.

 

We can still do good in this world. We just need to remember that we all need to stay together as one to make that happen. We, as a whole, can do amazing things no matter what. It just takes one little step to start the effect.

 

Stay strong, America.

 

Sincerely,

A Hopeful Civilian

 

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Alexandra is a senior at Penn State majoring in Digital-Print Journalism in the College of Communications. She is the assistant editor for Her Campus and loves everything else PSU has to offer her. She is involved with the Onward State, and would like to somehow benefit THON. Alex loves to write, sing, bake, and dance around like no one is watching. Alex is known to love her animals, including her cat, Grace, who isa little devil at the same time. Oh, and pizza. She loves pizza like it's her world. Follow her on Instagram for her craziness: allieramos1698
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Meghan Maffey graduated from the Pennslyvania State University in the Spring of 2017. She graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in English.