I’m 16; here’s why Kamala’s win is so important to me

To me, Kamala Harris’ win was a statement to every minority, every immigrant and every woman who had ever felt helpless or discriminated against.

When I was in the fourth grade, my teacher asked our class, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” One student said doctor, another an engineer, another a firefighter and so on.

When it was finally my turn, I yelled, “I want to be the president of the United States!”

To my dismay, instead of hearing a round of applause, like the rest of my classmates received, I heard giggling. “Girls can’t be presidents,” someone said.

Embarrassed, I was quiet for the rest of the day. Since then, whenever someone asked me what I wanted to be, I would say doctor, air hostess, lawyer, but never again did I tell anyone I wanted to be president. Even today, I’ll hear some of my male friends call other girls a “dishwasher” or tell them to go clean the house. Even though they joke about it, it does nothing but further perpetuate the fact that women are underestimated and undervalued in today’s society.

So when I first heard that Sen. Kamala Harris was the Democratic vice president nominee for Joe Biden, I was overjoyed. After witnessing such a huge underrepresentation of women, especially women of color, in politics for countless years, Kamala Harris was my hope that America could finally have its first Madam Vice President.

Let’s be honest; The 2020 election was so much more than simply Democrat versus Republican. Throughout the four years of President Trump’s presidency, women, immigrants and minorities have been undermined and many are fighting for their basic rights. To me, Kamala Harris’ win was a statement to every minority, every immigrant and every woman who had ever felt helpless or discriminated against. It would show the rest of the world that America’s period of racism, sexism and hatred was slowly coming to an end.

So when the Biden-Harris ticket finally emerged victorious, I was enthralled, running up and down my house screaming something along the lines of “WE’RE GOING TO HAVE OUR VERY FIRST MADAM VICE PRESIDENT. AMERICA IS GOING TO HAVE IT’S VERY FIRST FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT.”

That day I could barely contain my excitement because this win was so much more than a normal election win; it was a symbol to me and to millions of young girls across the nation, that anything is possible in America. That the color of your skin, your ethnicity, your gender cannot hold you back from your dreams, whatever they may be.

When Kamala Harris finally gets the chance to work in her official VP office, she won’t just be another vice president. She will be representing the hundreds of thousands of young girls who one day dream of serving in the highest office of

America. America still has a long way to go before everyone learns to accept each other and become fully united, but Kamala Harris just helped us get one step closer to it.

So to all the young girls out there with big dreams, believe in yourself and don’t let anyone or anything stop you from accomplishing your dream. Yes, you will face challenges and not everyone may necessarily believe in you. But eventually, if you believe and you are determined, you will emerge victorious. Because no matter what you want to pursue, there will always be a stage waiting for you.

As Michelle Obama once said, “There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.”