I, like many Americans, am dumbfounded. Dumbfounded that a man who ran a campaign based on hatred is the new president-elect. Dumbfounded that a man who openly mocked the disabled is the new president-elect. Dumbfounded that a large amount of the American population chose a misogynist to be our next president.

After an election year that was rife with mud-slinging, venomous remarks, corruption, and pure, unadulterated, idiocy, it would be easy to give up hope and assume there is no way we can steer the country in the right direction. It would be easy to give up hope that our country will not succumb to hate-filled rhetoric. It would be easy to give up hope for a progressive future after the results of the election. However, becoming hopeless would be the worst possible outcome.

If the election were decided by just 18-35-year-old voters, Hillary Clinton would’ve won to the tune of 504 electoral votes to 23. Let me say it again – she would have won to the tune of 504 electoral votes to 23. Do not dismiss this statistic! Yes, it is true that the younger demographic always tends to lean left, but this is not simply a lean; this is a group that was firmly entrenched in the left. I do not take this as our demographic voting in tune with our ideology, but voting in tune with our collective moral conscience. Heavily conservative states such as South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama all voted for

Hillary in the 18-35 age group. This is important, as it further shows that millennials seemed to put party affiliation aside in this election and call on their morals to make the choice.

This is why I still cling to my hope. I believe in millennials. I believe in our ability to steer our country in the right direction as we age. I implore you to hold on to that hope as well. If you are as disheartened as I am, you must. Channel that hope into drive. We have learned that we can no longer just sit on our laurels and assume that our country will make the right choice. If you believe in candidates, work for them! Join their campaign crew. Do not just voice your support through tweets; actually go out and campaign for them. While social media does hold a huge influence, it does not do much when you are preaching to the choir, which is what a lot of us were doing. Tweeting your support for a candidate to be seen by followers who also overwhelmingly support that candidate accomplishes absolutely nothing. Take this election and learn from our mistakes. Use the hope that we have in our country and channel it into tireless campaigning for a person or people you believe in. I beg of you, my fellow millennials, to not let this election’s results rid you of your hope. Our hope is what will keep us afloat.