A journey to understanding
Following the shocking results of the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump into the Oval Office, much chaos ensued throughout the nation. Between the Russian scandals, the US backing out of the Paris Climate Accords, and the copious number of tweets flooding social media, another problem draws the attention of Americans across the board with the start of the new academic year.
With freshmen moving into college dorm rooms for the first time everywhere, there remains a single itching question unspoken between roommates. It’s the big red, white, and blue Republican elephant in the room and nobody seems to want to address it: Who exactly did you vote for in the 2016 election?
Everyone hopes to get along with their roommates, especially in their first year of college, but they seem to be walking on eggshells to keep the peace. This mainly entails skirting around this question at all costs.
“I just can’t bring myself to do it,” says freshman, Charlie Chunks. “I really like Chad and I don’t wanna ruin the bromance we’ve got going on. What if he tells me he voted for Trump and I vomit all over his stuff? He’ll never let me use his X-Box again!”
This is a common fear these days. Even with the election being over ten months behind us, emotions appear to still be running raw and high. Freshmen seem to be approaching the situation from different angles.
A particularly interesting method fearful freshmen adopted is simply getting plastered whenever they are with their roommates.
“After a while, I got tired of being constantly afraid the conversation would become too political,” explains Charlie. “So now whenever Chad and I are together, we drink.” He admits this has proven far more difficult than he imagined since he now is in a constant state of inebriation and disillusionment. “It’s better than the alternative,” he admits.
Freshman Computer Science Major, Alicia Pickles, decided to take a subtle approach in revealing to her roommate that she supported Clinton during her campaign. “I figured it’d be better to just drop hints to Ellie instead of asking her who she voted for straight up,” says Alicia, who has taken to wearing sensible and ‘stylish’ pantsuits for the semester. “I think she’s getting the hint and hopefully will speak up about it when the time comes. I’m even keeping hot sauce in my purse!”
However, what not just freshmen, but people on campuses everywhere need to remember, is our political differences shouldn’t divide us. At least that’s what freshman Sociology Major, Coco Christian has chosen to think.
Coco tells me that, “Whether we really like big walls or sensible pantsuits, or if we’re white or orange, we are all still human.” She chose the radical route of sitting down with her roommate, Gina, to engage in an open dialogue about their political opinions. “Even though Gina and I didn’t vote for the same candidate, we realized we both wanted Rachel to end up with Brian on The Bachelorette. Now I feel like we are closer than ever. Goes to show we aren’t that different after all.”
Thomas Pettit is a second-year writing major who voted for John McAfee, the Presidential Nominee of the Cyber Party. You can reach them at [email protected].