No matter what your views are, the 2016 election has been a particularly difficult election process. Walking into to Hewitt the morning after the election results came in, there was an immediate sense of sadness, shock, and disappointment. The polls conducted at school indicated Hillary Clinton was the candidate most students and faculty would vote for, just as the polls from most media outlets indicated voters would bubble in Clinton’s name on the ballots.
“I thought it was a dream. I woke up in the middle of the night eight minutes after the results came out and I couldn’t believe it,” Olivia F. ‘17 says.
Alexander Heffner held a conversation about civil discourse to help us better understand this unusual election. Heffner stressed that we as students are not completely voiceless and that there are steps that can be taken to move closer to the America that we want to live in. Topics such as the Electoral College and gerrymandering were discussed with Heffner. After the talk, many students felt that had a better understanding of the election results.
Source: Tara Kinsey Twitter
Following the conversation with Heffner, students congregated in the library to watch Hillary Clinton’s concession speech live. We waited for an hour for Clinton to come on stage and deliver her speech, which meant we missed our noon class. During this hour, students talked amongst themselves about their feelings and frustrations with the election. Some students wept while their friends tried to console them.
“It was heartbreaking to have to experience this when most of us were under the impression that she would win the election. It was also very difficult to see a woman, who is an icon to so many young women, lose to after fighting so hard,” Annika H. ‘19 says.
Though it was a challenging day for most of the Hewitt community, we still managed to come together as a school and reassure each other that everything will be alright. The many discussion groups helped students come to terms with the results and allowed us to begin to look ahead at our roles in shaping our ideal country. As Clinton said in her concession speech, “This loss hurts, but please never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it”