On a Deep Exhale
Wednesday, the Associated Press called Donald Trump’s presidential win at 5:34 a.m. Within hours, Santa Monica College (SMC) students were primed for life’s resume.
Many students admitted to, at minimum, light disappointment. As dust resettles, the emotive responses among students are strikingly varied in saturation. Enclaves of the extremely concerned supplied the campus with dynamics.
“I don’t have much hope,” a student of initials M.D., who claims no doctoral pursuits. “It sounds overdramatic but I feel like a part of me died.”
“People on social media are like, oh, America is reaping what they sow,” he continued. “And I’m like, no, half of us don’t want this.”
“I knew I was probably going to cry if it didn’t go the way I was hoping it would go. So I stayed up. Three o’clock. Saw it,” said another student, anonymous. “Yeah, this is life now. I cried, I tried to cry as much as I can, and I’m like, okay, tomorrow, no crying. And so I’m not crying.”
This student predicted social change, and consequent interpersonal struggles: “I don’t like the idea of going back into the closet.”
Another student of initials J.M. concurred about the closet. “I haven’t even come out of the closet. I might not even have the option to do that now.”
He reflected, “When Trump won the first time, I was in fifth grade. I don’t think I had any sort of political sense back then.” But now, “when I look back at what happened in 2016, I’m just really concerned that it’s just going to all happen again. Just worse.”
Along with immediate emotional provocations, students identified political fears.
“I’m concerned about prison reform,” said J.M. “I’m worried about the economy, it’s going downhill even more, (and) people who are in other countries don’t realize that if America’s politics get bad, it affects everything on a global scale… We’re going to be ending up in another global conflict, and then, you know, that’s going to wake people up.
“I just need to go take out my frustration on something. I’m going to the gym.”
Charlotte Massey, second-year student, offered a doomed perspective on global affairs.
“Trump winning means a death sentence for Ukraine, for a lot of different reasons, and (for) Gaza,” said Massey. “Every decision that’s made is going to be not for the people but these companies, for themselves, for Republicans, whatever.”
Massey anticipates the country will lay their faith in the next election. For her, this is too late. “In terms of climate change, there’s zero time to waste; in terms of wars going on, if we waste time, people are dying,” she said. “In terms of reproductive rights, people have already died and are going to continue to as more of these laws get passed.”
Outside the concentration of hypervigilant politicos, the campus retained a deep-welled ambivalence. The daily humdrum rose and settled over the campus as typically as any Wednesday. Any chance of long-term solemnity or mourning or contemplation is outcast by the neverending grind of the Machine. But even Orwell might relent.
Student Daniela admitted she was “disappointed,” but in terms of projected impact, “it’s kinda a wait-and-see.”
“I’m not really into politics,” said student Angel Lopez. “So I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s something. It’s unexpected.”
One student confessed she has no idea how to feel.
Carlos Martinez corroborated slight disappointment, but clarified “either way I wasn’t set on who I wanted, y'know? I wasn’t decided on who, because both of them had flaws.”
Only one student was off-guard “hav(ing) to go to school today (and) work today.” Others were more resolute. The ceaselessly bustling campus reaffirmed.
Clustering by the science buildings, some groups of comrades found solace in mathematical analyses, comparing statistics and money lost on predictions.
Others yet demoed excitement. One proclaimed, “I’m going to the inauguration!”
Therapist Michelle Pereira of the Center for Wellness and Wellbeing investigated the burden of the election upon students, generally. She found it to be “a collective grief, like something died, something disappeared.”
As a coping stratagem she encourages physical grounding with routine muscle exaltation.