I Never Thought I Could Be President

I am going to start this essay off with this: I don’t care what your opinion is. I don’t care if you agree with me or disagree, if you hate what I have to say or if I move you to tears. This isn’t about you, or me all that much.

In Kindergarten, we are asked what we want to be when you grow up. Obviously, a 5-year-old doesn’t know anymore than the 22-year-old I am now. But I clearly remember that I never said I could be President of the United States, ever. I said teacher and dancer and other jobs I had seen women do, but never President.

When I was 15 years-old, I started taking on leadership positions in high school. It felt natural, like I was born to lead. But, some didn’t want me to have power, and this follows me still to this day.

At 18, and starting my college experience, you start to get asked what you are going to do after you graduate. And I never once thought about becoming President.

I grew up seeing the same formula for President for the longest time: white, heterosexual, cis, middle aged men. It’s all I ever saw in the highest position of US politics. Even in 2008 when Obama became president, which was an amazing moment for minorities, I still couldn’t see myself where he was.

And now we have Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Nominee for President. And I am incredibly moved by this moment, because I never imagined we would ever see a woman be this close to become the leader of our nation. She is not the first woman to run, and she is only a piece that has led to this huge crack in the glass ceiling looming over the head of women and girls for centuries. She is so unbelievable close to breaking the glass ceiling that is the Presidency, and this is the first time in a very long time where I feel like I can do the same.

But, like I said, this isn’t about me very much. No, this is about her.

And her

And her

And her

For these girls, and so many more, Hillary is important. I didn’t have a Hillary, I never thought I could be President, I have sat under the glass ceiling looking up for so long. But with the work of so many women who have fought to get women to vote, to get into politics in seats of power, and to see a woman run for president and stand a chance is beyond what I could imagine. Hillary is not perfect, but she is more important than most people understand. These girls need to see this become a reality, not another cookie cutter clone of what we have seen in the past.

I never thought I could be President, but these girls can, and that is necessary and essential to our future.