We are the ones we've been waiting for.

I was 10 when George W Bush was elected to office. In 2000 during the election year I was in 5th grade, in my public school this was the year we learned about the Boston Tea Party and started to learn more about our American History. This also meant my teacher kept us informed of the election. In magazines aimed at my age group like Time for Kids that was kept in our classrooms, the election and election process was a big topic. I was aware. I was also aware of what my parents thought of the candidates and knew that although I lived in a blue state because of Chicago, the part of Illinois I grew up in might not be as left leaning as the city that swayed our state 50 miles away from my home. I remember being disappointed that the candidate the people in my house and my church community talked fondly about didn't win that election but I don't remember deep despair or anger.

I was 14 when George W Bush got re-elected to office. I was now angry, angry that I didn't have a voice in our political system. I was angry that our teachers kept telling us we are the future, but as the future we had no say in who was shaping the future of our country and the adults who were shaping the future for us had voted someone into office again who had put us at war and did not seem to share any of my core values. I bought CD's that had various artists who wrote songs in protest called "Rock Against Bush Vol.1 and 2" I had a sweatshirt with his face and the phrase "Not My President" on the back, and I even went out a few times with my mom, younger sister and fellow members of our UU church and protested his presidency and the war. I learned how to be a budding activist. I learned that resisting and calling out injustice was not only my right as an American, but my duty.

The high school I went to was a mixture of farm families and families who resided in the suburbs. Although we were not diverse racially, we were diverse socioeconomically. Because of this I had many classmates and teachers who did not share the same views I did, or sometimes understand where I was coming from. I have a vivid memory of  being in my sophomore American History class and having the student teacher from the university close by tell me "I have never met a nurturing and kind staunch feminist before." after he watched me go from giving a passionate presentation about the women's rights movement in the 1960's (with a visual of a decorated metal trash can full of peace signs and quotes from strong women like Gloria Steinem) to waiting for the bell to ring standing with my group of friends, embraced in a hug by one of my close male friends. This was the first time I remember hearing feminist be used as a backhanded compliment and negative thing. I was always told feminism and being a feminist was a positive. It empowered me and still does. I didn't let that student teacher in his 20's and his interpretation of what a staunch feminist looked like change either the way I interacted with my friends or my strong sense of identity.

I was 18 when I cast my first ballot in a national election, my group of friends and I decided that the election was a perfect excuse to skip all our classes for the day and drive around town gathering all the free things we could get because we voted. We blared music and a few would roll windows down at stoplights yelling OBAMA 08! We spent the evening watching John Stewart and Stephen Colbert cover the election with most of the people who lived in our residence hall. When it was announced that Barack Obama was our President Elect, the excitement in the room was uncontainable. Many of us felt like our voices were finally heard and we were able to take part in such a historical moment for our country.

I was 22 when I cast my second ballot for President Obama. I don't have the same rose tinted excitement associated with this, cast my ballot and prayed that some of the campaign promises that he made in 2008 would happen. Eager for change in our immigration system, LGBTQ rights, and desperately wanting Guantanamo Bay to be shut down. I was relieved and thankful that evening when he stayed on and was re elected for his second term.

During President Obama's terms in office healthcare became more affordable and accessible, pipelines were stopped, and now all in our country are free to marry the one they love. Progress was made and lives were made better. But there was still plenty of justice work to be done in our country. I took part in walks to help larger national conversations happen about mental health and suicide prevention and awareness, protested the treatment of people incarcerated in Maricopa County under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, listened to horror stories of the environmental impact open coal barging and rallied to help end them, and took to the streets chanting "Black Lives Matter" fighting against racial injustice and police brutality. Even when the leaders you want in power are in power, injustice does not stop, the struggle does not stop, our work does not stop.

I am 26 now and cast my ballot in November 2016, I cried when I filled in my ballot. I cried thinking of how I was casting my vote for a woman to become president. I cried and was cocky, thinking this election was already decided. I was wrong. On election night I cried again, a different cry, a cry for our nation and its future. A cry of fear and anger. That cry then turned to a fire, a fire that I had not felt since I was 15, only this time the fire in my belly was intensified because I made my voice known, but that was not enough. Intensified because I now work with teens who were already voicing how unfair it is that they can not vote.

In the 11 years since I first felt that anger from who was elected as the President I feel like I have been prepping for this. I have learned how to write to my elected officials, I learned how to non violently and peacefully protest, I can engage in conversation with friends and family who do not share the same views without yelling or name calling. I have been training and learning how to start to become the adult I was desperately looking for when I was 15. Looking on my social media, I see this in many of my friends as well. We are not sitting idly by, we are actively trying to make our world better. We are becoming the ones we were waiting for 11 years ago.

I am 26 and I am fearful, angry, and hopeful. Hopeful because I see potential in our youth, the youth who are mad that we as adults have made their future scarier than ever by who has been elected into office. Hopeful that the fire many of us have felt in our gut gets spread to the youths as well. Hopeful that this next generation becomes hungry for change and becomes the ones they waited for. Because disappointments will always happen and what matters is how we react to the loss and disappointment and if we continue to strive to be the people we wished we had in our lives when things went wrong, we can continue to build a better world.