My Road to Hope
On January 20th, 2001 I was 15 years old. I had spent most of my conscious life under the Clinton presidency. I knew a few simple truths: The U.S. was great, and the President was a person who cared about making the country even greater. I was, of course, aware of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but by that time I was old enough to know that someone's personal life is quite able to be separated from their business/public life.
I wasn't all that upset the January morning Bush was sworn into office. I knew there had been some controversy in Florida over hanging chads and missing ballots. I felt that Gore was the better choice, simply because it was an extension of the Clinton presidency. The 90's were good times, and with Gore they'd keep rollin' into the new millennium. When Bush was finally declared the winner, I shrugged and thought, "Oh well." I felt that even if I didn't agree with a lot of what he espoused, he was basically harmless. My mental image of Bush was pretty much that of the short-lived Comedy Central show, "That's My Bush". Pretty much I felt he was going to be another Ford.
On September 11, 2001 I watched the horrible events of that day unfold in my classrooms. I remember my Algebra 2 teacher walking in late. He said simply, "Something is happening in New York. I'm going to turn on the t.v. for a second." I remember the speculation. Was it an accident? I remember watching the smoke billow from that first tower. At 9:03 a second plane came into view on the screen. I can still clearly recall watching the plane hit the 2nd tower. In that moment the entire class was silent. It went unspoken. Everyone knew what we had just seen was no accident. That was the day people of my generation grew up.
In the months following the attacks, I felt a bond with other Americans. We looked to the president for strength and leadership. Though I didn't agree with him much of the time, he was still my president.
On March 20, 2003 I was a high school senior less than 2 months away from graduation. I was in love for the first time. I was, in a word, distracted. Maybe that is why I don't remember feeling as upset then as I now feel I should have been. I remember being scared, mainly. There were rumors swirling of the draft being reinstated. I was afraid for my then boyfriend. I was a little afraid for me should they include women. The reasoning behind the Iraq invasion seemed shaky, but the Bush administration talked of classified evidence. I felt that someday we would have that and be able to say, "oh. Guess it was a good thing we did go in then, huh."
By November 2004, I was growing cynical. I wasn't thrilled with Kerry, but he seemed better than Bush. I was willing to give the new guy a shot.
I have spent the last 3 and a half years waiting for this moment. I honestly didn't think it would happen. Today, I have a president-elect (oh hell, president!) who cares, really cares, about this country. I honestly feel his goal is to heal the great divide this country has incurred over the past decade. I'm not talking about Red vs. Blue or Democrat vs. Republican. The middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate, and any student of history knows that this is a very bad thing. Rome fell not from foreign invaders, but from greed and corruption within. I feel Obama will give the U.S. a chance to fix some major problems before it is too late.
I am happy that I was able to vote for a candidate and not simply against one.
I wasn't all that upset the January morning Bush was sworn into office. I knew there had been some controversy in Florida over hanging chads and missing ballots. I felt that Gore was the better choice, simply because it was an extension of the Clinton presidency. The 90's were good times, and with Gore they'd keep rollin' into the new millennium. When Bush was finally declared the winner, I shrugged and thought, "Oh well." I felt that even if I didn't agree with a lot of what he espoused, he was basically harmless. My mental image of Bush was pretty much that of the short-lived Comedy Central show, "That's My Bush". Pretty much I felt he was going to be another Ford.
On September 11, 2001 I watched the horrible events of that day unfold in my classrooms. I remember my Algebra 2 teacher walking in late. He said simply, "Something is happening in New York. I'm going to turn on the t.v. for a second." I remember the speculation. Was it an accident? I remember watching the smoke billow from that first tower. At 9:03 a second plane came into view on the screen. I can still clearly recall watching the plane hit the 2nd tower. In that moment the entire class was silent. It went unspoken. Everyone knew what we had just seen was no accident. That was the day people of my generation grew up.
In the months following the attacks, I felt a bond with other Americans. We looked to the president for strength and leadership. Though I didn't agree with him much of the time, he was still my president.
On March 20, 2003 I was a high school senior less than 2 months away from graduation. I was in love for the first time. I was, in a word, distracted. Maybe that is why I don't remember feeling as upset then as I now feel I should have been. I remember being scared, mainly. There were rumors swirling of the draft being reinstated. I was afraid for my then boyfriend. I was a little afraid for me should they include women. The reasoning behind the Iraq invasion seemed shaky, but the Bush administration talked of classified evidence. I felt that someday we would have that and be able to say, "oh. Guess it was a good thing we did go in then, huh."
By November 2004, I was growing cynical. I wasn't thrilled with Kerry, but he seemed better than Bush. I was willing to give the new guy a shot.
I have spent the last 3 and a half years waiting for this moment. I honestly didn't think it would happen. Today, I have a president-elect (oh hell, president!) who cares, really cares, about this country. I honestly feel his goal is to heal the great divide this country has incurred over the past decade. I'm not talking about Red vs. Blue or Democrat vs. Republican. The middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate, and any student of history knows that this is a very bad thing. Rome fell not from foreign invaders, but from greed and corruption within. I feel Obama will give the U.S. a chance to fix some major problems before it is too late.
I am happy that I was able to vote for a candidate and not simply against one.