Where Ends Meet and Progress Meets an End

On Nov. 9, the world shook. Television screens blared red in every living room of every home as people awaited the 2016 election results. I was one of these people, huddled around a computer with my four best friends, passing around Kleenex and Cup Noodles. We watched as the map of electoral votes bled a scarlet red, pouring over the Midwest and claiming Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania. Both horror and stupefied astonishment overtook me. I was angry at the news sources for being so drastically wrong, but most of all I was mad at the silent majority for proving us right.

"The progress we have made in our mindset is what I believe to be paramount. A racist, sexist, unqualified, unintelligent and misogynistic man who swoops in and wins the election cannot set this progress off course."

Walking around campus the next day was like walking around a graveyard; I have never witnessed such a silent landscape. I have also never seen such unity in a single group of people before. On that day, you could walk up to any given person and give them a hug, and they would know why. This divided nation has only brought our community closer together.The results of this election have disturbed me, like many of my peers. I am outraged that the American people decided to ignore all of the malicious, non-progressive and discriminatory concepts that Trump stands for, and casted a ballot for him regardless. Endorsing Donald Trump is directly perpetuating the culture of rape and sexual misconduct in our world today. At Exeter we have worked so hard over the last year to make sure that we are building a climate for ourselves in which healthy sexual behavior is essential to our wellbeing as students and our quality as humans. We have held workshops, assemblies, facilitated conversations with Principal MacFarlane, taken surveys and published dozens of articles on this issue. The progress we have made in our mindset is what I believe to be paramount. A racist, sexist, unqualified, unintelligent and misogynistic man who swoops in and wins the election cannot set this progress off course.As a small community that is committed to obtaining the utmost knowledge and goodness as people, I believe that we can make a difference. I believe that we are stronger together. Many of us will graduate in the middle of Trump’s term. We will move onto bigger and better things in a world of boundless opportunity. We will go to college, go to the army, upstart businesses and make differences in our own magnificent ways. The significance of a Trump presidency will penetrate all of its conceived limits. It will change our country in ways we never thought possible, but it cannot change us and it cannot change who we’ve become during our time at Exeter.Furthermore, this time in our lives should not be the peak of our quality as people. Just because the Academy’s Deed of Gift persuades us to combine these essential traits of knowledge and goodness, does not mean that they no longer apply once we have been handed a diploma—it is advice for life. The social awareness, political education, acceptance and involvement and genuine interest in the world are some of the attributes that make Exeter stand out. In many ways, these are qualities that are unique only to Exeter, but they do not have to be. The best thing that we can do for our school and for the world around us is to bring the accepting and aware people that we are into the world beyond high school. If we can carry Exeter’s cultural progress to the real world, it will not matter if our president is a genius or an ignoramus; the future is up to the people and how we react now.