A Good Hill to Die On // A Home I’m Scared Of

This part of my article was written — confidently — before the 2024 election results were released on Tuesday, Nov. 5, when I was pleasantly optimistic the results would not be as they are. 

I am still choosing to publish this portion of my blog, as I wrote it fully believing Kamala Harris would be the 47th president of the United States. I never would have dreamed of crying and being in complete utter and emotionless shock less than 24 hours after writing this half of my blog.

College aged students are a massive demographic, but the majority do not understand how to cast their votes away from home. For first-years who have only been at Pitt a few months, the constant approaching about my voter organizations is often overwhelming, and many ignore them. I too cannot stand being followed and eyed down on Forbes with a clipboard being pushed into my face. 

But if we as students hope to have any impact on our future, voting in this election is crucial. While many of us are not political science majors and probably have little overall knowledge of the government, every vote counts, especially in a demographic so passionate about bringing change. Voting is a civic duty that so many people across the world wish they had access to. While some may use their age as an excuse, not voting is just purely wrong when issues like abortion or foreign policy are up in the air. 

From my AP Comparative Politics and U.S. history classes, along with my first-year international relations course, I learned enough to piece together the importance of voter demographics and why we as young voters are so desired by candidates — it’s because we are impressionable. 

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are using a new additional strategy to target voters my age. They are both on social media platforms making posts that young people understand and enjoy. This connection they are forming through social media is in hope of getting newer voters registered and out to the polls. I mean, Kamala Harris did a bit with her SNL look-alike Maya Rudolph last Saturday in an attempt to better relate to voters on more than policy and was also on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. 

Excuses are not valid in this upcoming election when over these next four years, students could graduate into a completely different America. I believe in checks and balances and hope that there are enough people in government to stop any evil acts politicians are plotting, but nothing is guaranteed. I remember being assured Roe vs. Wade would never be overturned.

My one vote may be that of millions, but I want to sleep at night knowing I played my part in democracy and hope I can be a student proud to wear an “I voted” sticker. No American should want to die on a hill where they did not vote. 

The following portion of this piece was written 12 hours after finding out that Donald Trump is the next president elect of the United States from an Instagram post on Wednesday morning. It all still feels like a dream.

While I mostly feel like the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency have flown by, and I so hope Trump’s final four will as well — unless his plan to be dictator works — I know that on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2028, I will not be living in the same country.  

This is no American hill I want to die on, let alone live near. I am seriously discussing moving to Canada. 

You can read thousands of articles stating what Trump plans to do over the next few years, from abortion bans, tax cuts and deportation acts — he said it all in Tweets and on his campaign trail. This is Trump’s America now. 

As a female college student, I cast my ballot and did all I could, but I am terrified. I’m not just scared of the looming abortion bans, but I’m scared of what my life and career may be. Over 72 million and counting citizens used their vote to help elect Trump. Those people are choosing to ignore Trump’s federal convictions, two impeachment trials, rape alligations of dozens of women and his clear part in fueling the Jan. 6 riots. 

The idea of working next to people who reinstated this man’s power and going to class for the next two and a half years with students who are so uneducated they believe Trump is looking out for them is terrifying. 

I am trying to breathe, but I fear the once good, patriotic hill that was America is slowly crumbling.