How has your 2020 been going? Do you even remember all the craziness that has been 2020? On top of the overwhelming-ness of the pandemic looming over our heads, 2020 was also the year of the presidential election in the US.

Elections are big news in America, from my perspective…and maybe even the world this year. I wavered back and forth about writing a post about the 2020 election. I don’t tend to get super political, but I’m also not undecided. If you know me, you probably know which side I’m on. And this past week has been one very long week.

This year, a lot of people that had never voted came out and cast their votes. That was pretty awesome to see. The trend of a large proportion of mail-in votes being democratic and in-person, day-of votes being republican was pretty fascinating. It also pretty expected…we’re living in a pandemic still. It’s not over and it’s not quite going away any time soon.

I would love for the pandemic to resolve itself sooner rather than later. I’d like to resume my pre-pandemic plans that are still on hold. But also, I’m not in such a rush that I don’t want the world to be safe first. So, hopefully, with 46 in the White House we can work on getting a handle on COVID-19.

Back to the election stuff. This was not my first time voting. I’ve been voting since I’ve been old enough to vote (18 years old). But I was glad to hear others had decided to cast their votes for the first time. It’s exciting to see people exercise their right to vote. I love all my friends who are more outspoken about their political views and I love the ones who are willing to have a discussion. And though I’m not exactly outspoken about my political views, I do enjoy partaking in conversation. It’s very interesting if you’re just willing to listen.

Some of us may have noticed that our social media essentially because an echo chamber. This is the way they’re designed. This also leaves to the super division of the country and how the presidential race showed how divided our country has become. Yes, some of my feed was a bit of an echo chamber as well, but my friends also, more or less, reflect me. I personally didn’t perpetuate the echo, but supported my friends.

Going into this election, let’s get real, we all knew we were not going to get any results on election night or even the next morning. I was thinking it’d be lucky if we were able to get results by the weekend. But, the states pulled through and kept working and kept counting and we had a president-elect by Saturday morning. Oh the joyous news…that could also be heard from the window of my friend’s apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. Times Square was up and celebrating and from what I saw on Instagram, so was the rest of New York City.

The future was looking promising. I feel like a weight has been lifted and I could breathe a little easier. I didn’t have to worry that my friend might have to move to another country (I know…ironic coming from the girl who’s trying to leave). I don’t have to worry that we’ll all ended up living with this pandemic forever and it’ll get worse and worse and worse. Holding a US passport doesn’t seem as worthless anymore. The fear of a real life Gilead is no longer looming on the horizon. All my friends and family whose basic human rights were going to be stripped, it’s okay. The children who are learning about our government…what a year to learn about it.