Awaiting Change: My Reaction to the 2020 Election

I sat in my dorm on Tuesday night and stared at MSNBC while I continued to refresh my computer, hoping that just a bit of clarity would come through. It was election night and I was nervous, to say the least.

The first swing state announced was Florida, and Trump carried it. I watched and waited for Biden to quickly pick up Nevada or maybe North Carolina, but to no avail. My best friend and the news outlet continued to tell me the same thing, a thing I knew. Biden’s votes would come, it will just take a bit because of mail-in ballots. I had to be patient. I knew this, logically I knew this. But, I was still scared. The deliberation and uncertainty over states was killing me. 

Five days of waiting later, a winner was called. Joe Biden had secured the nomination. 

Now you may question why I was SO invested in this election (or you may not because we all should have been). To me, this election had many layers. This election did more than decide the president of our country for the next four years. It decided who America was. It decided whether the majority of our country wanted us to be ruled with hate or with love. It decided whether our citizens wanted a leader who could be a role model for our nation’s youth or a leader who could be an example of what not to do.

Although personally, I think this battle was far too close, love won. Decency won, experience won, logic won, kindness won, and equality won. 

As my friends and I crowded around my laptop and watched Joe and Kamala accept the nomination, I cried. I cried because I felt safer and I cried because I knew my loved ones would be safer. I cried because of Kamala. She said to the nation, “Although I may be the first woman in the White House, I won’t be the last.” She showed all the little girls, older women, and everyone in between that women are capable, powerful, and beautiful. She is my role model. She proves that there is nothing a woman can’t do. She gives me hope, and she makes me feel like anything I want to accomplish is possible. This is a feeling more than foreign to me, and likely most women in our country, but one I plan to embrace. 

This election was a victory for me. It’s a victory for our nation – American democracy is on the way to being salvaged. My rights and my loved ones’ rights are more secure, and I got to cry in my dorm room on a Saturday night as my best friends and I watched the first female AND person of color accept her nomination as Vice President. 

I’m hopeful for the first time in four years. I am hopeful that our country can now start working for change and equality, and I am hopeful for the role I will get to play. 

• election 2020