It's Over

On January 20, 2008, I watched with wide eyes as Barack Obama stood on the steps of the Capitol and became President of the United States. I was in the sixth grade then, a mere child who couldnt make heads or tails of his proposed stimulus plan or the concept of healthcare reform. But I watched with a proud smile on my face as he took the oath of office- even as the students around me jeered and shouted racial slurs at the television.

Im from a rural area of Florida, what some today would refer to as Trump Country. I was used to hearing that type of language; I barely winced when one boy made a comment about a monkey moving into the Oval Office. He was young- we all were. But despite that, despite the bulk of our opinions stemming from those of our parents, our friends, or our favorite shows, we all knew that Obamas inauguration meant something was changing. And we each responded in the best way we knew how.

Obamas inauguration changed the way I, an Indian-American girl, saw my future prospects. Some people will say that his name or facial features or tone of voice shouldnt have mattered so much to me. Thats nave. We all know our history and how it is a troubled one, fraught with bigotry. People who looked or sounded different were almost always treated poorly, to put it mildly. They never dared to hope for much. That changed eight years ago.

During the 2012 election, I was a sophomore in high school. I understood both candidates platforms far better than I had four years prior, and my support and love for President Obama was still unwavering. I believed his fiscal and social policies were better than those of Mitt Romney, of course, but more than that, I believed in his commitment to diversity, inclusion, and change because they had been the underlying thread of his first term. He continued to deliver them in his second.

President Obama will always be remembered as The First. The first Different one. But that is simply a component of his larger legacy, not its entirety. The advancement of the traditionally-marginalized and the focus on progressivism- remember, kids: twenty years ago, any advocate of universal healthcare would become a punchline- were always central in Obamas political life. But more than that was the infectious belief that anything and everything we ever dreamed could be achieved. That we, perhaps the most multicultural, digitized, open-minded generation this country has ever seen, could change this world for the better. Hope will be the defining word of the Obama years.

It is now January 19, 2016. Im a sophomore in college, an adult (at least on paper). And tomorrow I, along with millions of others, will watch somebody else assume the role of president. I dont know that Ill feel that same awe I did eight years ago. Im not quite certain of what is to come. Its certainly the end of an era in many respects, but in particular it is the end of an era in which hope was a novelty. And that, at least, is a good thing.