3:00 am my phone exploded with notifications and as I glanced at CNN, I was filled with excitement.
I jumped out of bed to go tell my dad (who was already up) and wake up the rest of my family. In the heat of the moment, I was filled with adrenaline and shock. How did this happen? The polls leading up to now had been saying Hillary would win by a substantial amount.
This feeling of pure elation continued all morning as I drove to school early ready to face the day. I also went to school ready to face angry Hillary supporters. Angry because they thought they would win. Angry because they think they are taking a step in the wrong direction. Angry because they have a right to be so. They thought their candidate was going to win. And she didn't.
As a 16-year-old girl, I was in the minority of people supporting Trump, his supporters being predominantly older males. One thing that didn't put me in a Trump minority was the reasons why I supported him. I am not a hard-core Trump supporter, I do not believe in everything he says. I am revolted by the way he referred to women and to other minorities. However, when I considered what many Americans referred to as "choosing the better of two evils", I decided that I had to put any personal misgivings about the two aside and look at the issues.
No, I am not a bigot, I am not a homophobe, I am not a racist, I am not an Islamophobe, and I am definitely not one to hate others. I do not stand with Trump in regards banning Muslims, or mass deporting people, or even ending NAFTA. I do stand with Trump in regards to securing our borders, investing more in infrastructure, re growing our economy, and becoming energy-independent among many other things.
With Trump as our President-Elect, America faces an uncertain future with a political outsider as our leader. As someone who was not 100% on board with Donald Trump, I can see the uncertainty, the fear, and the anxiety my friends have for our nation. As someone who also decided to support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, I see hope for America. Hope that we will remain a superpower, but perhaps stronger than before. Hope that we will keep and create our international ties. Hope that we will unite together as Americans and mend our wounds. I realize that in four years (or even sooner), I may regret my decision to have once called myself a Trump supporter, but I have hope and faith in Donald J. Trump and I know America is resilient.
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