The United States has had 45 presidents in the span of over 200 years. And each has had to face a number of challenges and came out with scars, but a number of accomplishments for the country.

But that doesn’t mean that this country hasn’t faced hardships.

The history of this nation is far from perfect. We’ve had our significant share of violence, and discrimination. And that isn’t going to go away just like that. But we’ve come far since the times when we were all separated just because the shades of our skin was different from each others.

We’ve become a diverse community that can support each other and heal when rough times come. It seems so dark, with how much has changed. But look at how far we have come since last March.

We are currently in the middle of a raging pandemic, struggling through learning and working from home, making sure our more vulnerable family and loved ones are safe and okay, and simultaneously juggling life in such an insane, and sometimes unbearable time.

And yet we have gotten through it.

We are going through this together, supporting each other together. We’ve lost so much but we’ve kept our spirits close. We’ve found ways to work around the obstacles that this past year had set out for us.

And the last few months of 2020 showed just how much power the lines “We the people” holds.

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The days leading up to the first week of November were hectic with anticipation and preparation to vote. But with Covid-19, new measures were taken to ensure that people could still vote, but in a safer manner. Which also increased the time in which votes could actually be counted.

When Election Day rolled around, it morphed into a series of days(due to the aforementioned internal conflicts) in which votes kept trickling. The numbers on the glowing television would change as a tired reporter would guide us through an unprecedented plight in our presidential election. That entire week was a push and pull between red and blue.

Everyone was watching the results of the election with the same vigor as someone expecting their final exam test results. And it seemed like all eyes were on the United States with bated breath. But if anyone deserved a break, it was Steve Kornacki from MSNBC and John King from CNN.

Every time I passed by our television with the news on, one of the two men was always pointing at a digital map of a state and breaking down numbers like human calculators. Neither seemed to lose their drive or composure. Especially Mr. Kornacki, who barreled on with his analyzations of each step in the election.

But it got me thinking how he was managing to keep track of all of his notes, stay one step ahead of the voter counts, AND calculate numbers on the fly. I think this man deserves a prize of some sorts because I’m barely able to function properly for a my Geometry class(on Zoom) in the mornings.

As crazy as those few days had been, it had also proven to bring a hilarious situation into our home that I was tempted to turn into a meme.

My dad.

Or as I would like to refer to during that brief period:

Appa the Hermit Crab

During those couple days my dad had started evolving from a human being to a hermit crab.

He waddled around the house wearing a shirt, two sweaters, and night pants(it’s winter here in Cali and my parents can barely handle the weather below 65 degree).

But I can’t say I can really blame him when it’s winter, we can’t go outside, and the fate of our nation was being monitored with every passing second , my dad was completely immersed into the election, even breaking down what was going on to my mom and I.

I’m sure most Americans, and quite a few people around the world, were in a similar state. Watching intently as history happened right before our eyes.

And it did.

The results of the election were announced on a gorgeous Saturday morning, I usually sleep in a little late on the weekends so I took my time getting up and starting the day. After a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up, I smooshed my glasses onto my face in a haste to get to the living room.

Since the beginning of the Presidential Election, the television was always on in the morning, afternoons, and nights, or kept in the background as well buzzed about the house. Today seemed no different. I tucked myself next to my mother and sister on the couch, staring dazed at the numbers that didn’t seem to have changed since the night before. My dad wasn’t in the house, but of playing tennis, so it was only my siblings, my mother, and I monitoring what position the two candidates were in.

The broadcast seemed to go on just as it had been the days prior, so I wasn’t really expecting results to come until later that day or even later.

I looked out the window, gray clouds covered the winter sky, people walking their dogs briskly made their way towards the field. It was another hazy day staying inside. I thought about various things as I stared out the window, unbothered.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted with a reporter saying

“-And it looks like Joe Biden is projected as the 46th President of the United States.”

I ripped my gaze away from the window and toward the television and lo and behold, the results of the election were plastered onto the screen, the news running on the bottom of the screen in large, capital letters.

I stared wide eyed at the television before telling my mom, who was distracted with tending to my sister.

I frantically patted her shoulder and directed her attention to the television.

“Amma, look!”

I almost started screaming right then and there from pure joy and disbelief. I felt light and overjoyed, and the atmosphere changed from tense to airy in less then a second.

My mother called my dad and told him the news while I scampered off to my room to grab my phone and scream at my friends through very enthusiastic text messages to which they responded with the same amount of vigor.

It was a momentous day for America, and an Election that no one would forget.

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On November 7th, 2020, Joseph R. Biden was projected to be the 46th president of the United States.

On November 7th, 2020, Kamala Harris was elected to be the first Vice President of African-American descent.

The first Vice President of South Asian descent.

And the first Vice President –

That is female.

The fact that she’s the first female to take the position of Vice vice president brought me so much pride. But to learn that she is half India made my heart burst. It felt like there was someone, finally, someone who was like me. Someone who’s skin was just like mine, who addresses her aunt’s just as I do, who was tied to the same country, the same region that I was from too.

And that makes me feel immense pride, to be represented in such an incredible way, and to be lead by someone who grew up just like me.

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Inauguration Day was January 20th, just a few weeks ago. But it was a historic ceremony.

I couldn’t watch the entire thing due to the fact that I had to attend my morning Zoom class, but even then the Inauguration always surfaced amongst conversation during my lessons.

That night, my family and I had watched the Inauguration performances and it truly made me feel like after everything we had gone through.

We were going to be okay.

The execution of each performance was stunning(my personal favorite was John Legend singing “Feeling Good”)and it was wonderful to be in a state in which it felt like the nation was truly united as one.

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I hoped you all enjoyed reading my recollection of the past few months and their events.

I’ve had this post drafted since the day of the Inauguration but school work has left me severely burnt out and unmotivated if I’m being completely honest. But I felt that this was an extremely important topic to write about because we’ve been in the midst of history in the making.

The time we are living in right now is one that none of us will forget. For all of it’s good, and it’s bad. But we will always remember that we will always be brought together under the influence of kindness.