A letter from a sad sad day in history

On this day, 4 years ago, Trump was elected president of the united states. No one, especially you, expected this was possible. You and all your peers were in shock, Nate walked you home from the library because you didn't want to cry in public. And sure enough once you got home the tears started flowing, both you and Jianna were in your room, tissues piling up on the floor. Your whole world view got flipped on its head today. Not only did you lose that infallible national pride, for a moment there the optimism that defines you, the boundless faith in humanity you believed in, it was gone. What sucks more than a highly unqualified Trump as president is the millions of people that voted for him, despite the hate that ran through his campaign. Despite the way he views and treats women. That is all excusable, because apparently we are way further behind than I thought we were in reaching equality. Hillary was beyond qualified but alas she was a woman. She didn't smile enough. She wasn't likable, trustworthy. I don't doubt for a second that this election wouldn't have even been close had she been male. As a woman right now I feel defeated. I don't feel like I can achieve anything, like I am not held back by my gender. A man accused of rape, who gloats about ****** assault, was chosen over a woman. What a slap in the face. It's like the country is screaming how much I don't matter. On top of this I feel betrayed by my family. Not a single one of them voted for Hillary! I feel like I do so much for my family, constantly making sacrifices for them and being the one there that holds everyone together, and it feels like they don't care about my needs at all. But thanksgiving is coming up and we're having family problems right now and I need to be the one there that can fix things and bring everyone together. So I have to push past these feelings, ignore how personally hurt I feel. I'm okay with that, it just sucks. Which is why I'm telling future you Rana. But I'm not just writing to complain. I'm writing to remind you. I want to remind you the community you are lucky to be surrounded by. The Berkeley community who grieved together, and didn't waste a moment to stand up and express their outrage. Who took to the streets the very same night and decided that we we're going to remain complacent and let our country turn to hate. I'm lucky for all the amazing girls in my sorority, who shed tears with me but took to spreading the message of love. The message that we are strong and we will overcome and we deserve the respect Trumps campaign failed to show us. I'm lucky that the millennial vote was 98% Hillary. Lucky to be part of this amazing generation that time and time again, my love for only grows. This generation I'm part of, the peers I'm surrounded by, we are the future and we are going to change the world. We're going to create a world of love, peace, exploration, art, community... and I'm writing to remind you that there is so so so much good in the world, even when at the moment you see endless darkness. Because almost everyones reaction to this election is now we must try even harder, to be better people. To do our part to make the world a better place. I have no idea what your future looks like right now, what 4 years of Trump has done to our world. With the next election coming up, I hope things are looking up. Writing this 4 years seems like an eternity to get through but hey, you made it. You always make it. Everything turns out okay in the end, and if it's not okay its not the end. You don't need to have national pride or faith in your government to have faith in humanity, to believe this life is beautiful. Humans are confused little creatures and if history is any indication, we are far far from perfect. But we keep striving toward good. You said today, "I don't need the majority of people to have the same view about women as I do. I just need to prove them wrong." So today you learned that this world is not as far along as you thought it was. And thats fine. If anyone's up for more of a challenge than they thought, its me anyway. And I'm not alone. We have all become infinitely more motivated. So I'm writing today to remind you of the beauty you experienced in this human race amid this horrifying awakening. The beautiful words people are sharing will soon be lost as our facebook feeds revert back to its usual fllood of gameday pictures and harambe memes, but I thought I'd share a few of them with you, so you can remember what can come out of a presidential election. "REGARDLESS OF THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION this nation (and world) will be in deep pain for half of it has turned their backs on the needs of already marginalized people. The world has heard our overwhelming support for racism, ******, and all of the other ism's that the Trump campaign stands for. And even worse - this hatred was chosen over progress. At this point I see no point in fear. We have so much strength within ourselves and even more so as a collective. In history we see time and time again dictators and other destructive leaders fall against the strength of the people. We will spend the next 4 years finding our own place in the world, our fields in which we can exact our influence to change the world. We will not be defeated. We will keep in mind the voices that half of our country has deliberately cast their vote to silence. And we can use our positions to make them heard. It is not over. It will never be over until we are all equals. We will continue to fight." "I guess the only thing to do is become a better person. To compensate. Pay attention to legislation. Attend protests, stare at your phone less, bike more, eat less meat, and fight harder against xenophobia, misogyny and plutocracy... This **** is ****** up. Don't give in. It's not "over"." "I know so many people are angry. At him. At those who voted for him. But that cannot become who you are. I hope today, as you face this reality, you focus on loving and taking care of your fellow humans as much as possible. We cannot fight hate with hate because we will not win. It is now our job to unite with love. Hate won last night but it will not win forever." "From my mom: Dear daughters, this is not what I wanted for you. I thought our county was moving toward a more enlightened path. I hoped it would include you, and young women like you. I have always voted to move this country forward. Now it is your time, your fight for women's rights and the rights of others. You now have a role to play in a movement we thought we had already won. Rise up and be the best version of yourself, fight for others and demand more from our society. Today we grieve but tomorrow the sun will rise and so will we. We'll fight the stupidity, bigotry, ******, racism together." "Talk to someone you don't know or agree with today. Get to know someone who makes you uncomfortable today. This is my hope for progress, because together we grow, and I implore you to fight your own ignorance more than that of others today." "If he builds a wall, I will raise my children to tear it down." Well the 4 years are over, maybe it wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, maybe it was worse. But no matter what the future holds for this next election, remember how this substantial blow 4 years ago ignited a fire in you and the rest of your generation. Remember the passion that burns in all of us, and please never never forget the good in this human race you are apart of. You're relentless optimism is one of my favorite things about myself and I will not lose it!! Life isn't easy, and we humans really don't have it all figured out yet, but persevere on :) I am now going to continue studying the **** out of electromagnetic waves so I can crush this midterm tomorrow. Beat them by succeeding. Prove them all wrong girl. I love you so much. Even though it feels like the whole world is against you right now, you are capable of anything.