I woke up on November 6 the way I usually do. I made my bed. I showered. I changed. I walked downstairs and I saw my parents sitting in the kitchen. My mom looked quietly devastated and my dad looked like he was passing through the stages of grief.

Donald Trump won the 2024 Presidential election. 

More than anything else, I instantly thought of the future we’d be losing. For the three and a half months that Kamala Harris ran for President, I felt more proud to be American than ever before. I was excited by the idea of my country being represented by a leader I had confidence in. I felt proud of the American flag. I thought Kamala Harris looked great in red, white, and blue — I thought I did too. Kamala Harris represented an America I was proud to be a citizen of. An America of change, opportunity, solutions, and equality. An America of resilience and problem-solving, of listening rather than fighting, and a country that seeks to understand rather than narcissistically desires to win.

Kamala ran a campaign of love, hope, and optimism. Kamala’s full smile behind a waving American flag is what hope means to me. Kamala Harris feels like my President; Donald Trump does not.  

However, I am not here to write about my not-President. I don’t want to recount all of the terrible speculation about his presidency that I overhear in the halls. It’s easy for one’s imagination to run wild. I choose to do the opposite. 

If yesterday, the American flag was shiny and beautiful, how does it become ugly and awful in a day? Trump and MAGA won the election, but if I let them taint the colors of America in my own mind, I am letting them win again.

America is still my country. 

America is still our country. The movement of hope and change and equality is still ingrained in my heart and in my voice. Every value the Harris party represents only disappears into thin air if I let it. 

Kamala Harris represents a movement that far exceeds herself. She is the face of 67.8 million people who have hope. I’m proud to say I’m one of them. 

67,878,826 people voted for Kamala Harris. 67.8 million people believed. Do you know how many people that is? That’s 67,800 Burlington High Schools. 1,523 Burlingtons and 105 Vermonts. And the wonderful thing? Those people aren’t going anywhere.  

We are allowed to grieve for the world that might have been. We are allowed to mourn and feel frustrated. We can feel upset and unheard. We are allowed to feel these feelings, but only as long as these feelings are stoking the fire of motivation and change. If I scroll and re-post the next four years away by talking about how awful these years are going to be, then the next eight will be even worse. However, if I cry and scream in order to change and inspire, change will come. 

The first step to taking action is reflection. You will win no moderates or conservatives over by antagonizing them. MAGA was able to secure the swing state vote in a way the Democrats couldn’t. Continuing on the same path that lost Kamala Harris this election is a misinterpretation of what it means to be relentlessly stubborn while seeking change. Being relentless means doing whatever it takes to make waves, even if it means taking an honest look in the mirror and acknowledging that you may not like what you see. In truth, the flaws of this election do not lie in the tens of millions of people that voted for Trump, but rather in the Democratic party’s inability to connect with them. 

One of the first things my mom said to me when I woke up that morning was “I don’t want you to grow up in this world.” 

I get to decide and define what “this world” means. I plan on making this world one myself and people halfway across the country feel safe and protected growing up in. The decision to fight rather than to flee is larger than one Trump administration. It’s larger than one party. It’s representative of the character of the youth of America. 

My pride in the Democratic party and America hasn’t faltered since hearing about the results. Rather than pointing out everything wrong with this country, I’m going to take action and lead with virtues like hope, strength, and justice — virtues that represent a party and country I am proud to be a part of. I challenge you to do the same.