As a young woman with disabilities, this was the American dream I voted for | Opinion

For the second time in eight years, I stayed up until the early hours of the morning and watched Donald J. Trump be elected president of the United States. But this outcome felt personal. At the time, I believed that love and compassion would triumph. I believed that we were indeed ready to write, as Vice President Kamala Harris said, “the next chapter in the greatest story ever told.”

Life since has been filled with frequent tears. Why? Because as a young woman in America, as an individual living with physical disabilities and as a student of history, I fear for my future. I wrote the following words on the eve of the 2024 election:

I don’t really know what I can say that hasn’t already been said. When I cast my vote, I couldn’t help but think of my grandfather and great-grandmother. What would they think of a woman getting so close to finally propelling our country forward, and shutting the door on one of the darkest chapters in modern American politics?

I’d like to think they’d be happy. I’d like to think that my grandfather, a good Iowa boy, would be proud of his home state for giving us hope in the final hours before the polls closed. I know they’d be thinking of me and their other grandchildren and great grandchildren when they filled out their ballot. My great-grandmother, the daughter of immigrants who grew up to be a successful woman, marry the love of her life, raise a beautiful family and have a career.

Well, that to me, folks, is the American dream. The fact that I — a young woman with visual and hearing impairment, and various other physical impediments, have the resources, not to mention the love and support of my family and community — am able to pursue a college education and pursue a career in an area I love, that’s the American dream. The fact that a woman like Harris can grow up from humble beginnings and one day become the candidate to bring hope and joy back to politics, That is the American dream.

I want to live in the America of Harris, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Martin Luther King, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Greta Gerwig and so many other visionaries who embody that American dream. I voted to restore rights that I and every other woman had and were robbed of in 2022. I voted to strengthen our education system, not obliterate it. I voted for the union workers and the middle-class families who make up the majority of this country’s diverse demographics. I voted for free speech and the right to privacy. I voted to protect the arts, humanities and sciences and welcome a diverse array of creativity, not censorship. I voted to shatter the glass ceiling and for the first time hear people address our commander in chief as “Madame President.”

I voted to restore hope in this country, not fuel it with hate. We don’t have to agree on the issues. But I hope that tomorrow, we get to go on living out our American dream. Happy Election Eve, everybody.