I don’t think I’ve felt quite this way since first grade.

There was a boy in my class who caught a newt and threatened to kill it in front of me since according to him, making me upset was worth a laugh. I was small and loud, and couldn’t hide an opinion to save my life. I was easily instigated, and used “big words,” and all anyone had to do was find what made me tick and push.

He was a bully, and I was an easy target.

I remember staring up at him, stifling my words as he taunted, holding the little living creature out of my reach. I remember feeling so small and powerless and filled with indignant outrage, unable to just understand why. Why is it people are like this?

That is exactly how Donald Trump’s entire campaign has made me feel. That is why last night when he won I sat in my bedroom instinctively running ideas through my head on how I would convince my friends that this was not the end of the world. Trump ran a campaign on accusation and bullying and making others feel small and inferior and he won.

I feel six years old. Only back then, all it took was shoving that boy as hard as I could and running with that newt in hand across the playground to release it under the chainlink fence for a solution. I mean, the opportunity has not yet presented itself for me to shove Donald Trump, although I feel very strongly that if it did, I would.

The point is, Donald Trump is nothing more than a bully. By electing this man, we are telling the world that it’s okay to treat all those who he doesn’t deem appropriate to live in America like garbage. The face of our country is now an angry bigot who is inarticulate, ill-tempered, and deems name calling as an effective rebuttal.

He blatantly insults and makes biased decisions based on people’s culture and ethnicity alone without qualms. He is even commonly quoted saying this line from his presidential announcement speech on June 16, 2015, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best… They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.”

He views women as little more than objects rather than people, never shying away from making this fact public.“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media writes as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.” Trump says in an interview with Esquire magazine. He is unqualified, undignified, and lacking most of all in the one area that a president should be strongest in: caring about other people.

This morning I woke bursting with shock and confusion over that fact that there are so many people in this country whose views I could not understand. By no means do I think that every person who voted for Trump is cruel. Neither by any means do I perceive Hillary as a perfect candidate. There are always two sides to every story. However, I can’t understand half of this country’s perception to society, and that is a hard pill to swallow.

It’s hard going outside knowing that a majority of people in this nation said okay to “locker room talk,” “building a wall,” and “conversion therapy.” People I love and care for are scared and will suffer, not solely from the laws that could be enforced, but because of the change in atmosphere and mindset. Half of this country has justified hatred and cruelty, and given those in favor the freedom to act upon it.

Despite the recent thread of fear, there is still hope. A small bit of reassurance that we haven’t completely lost all progression. We as a country, though still full of flaws and broken pieces, have been moving towards acceptance, awareness, equality, and inclusiveness with an increasing velocity over the past few years.

It may be that this election, though seemingly inexplicable and hatred-driven, is the last shattered cry of broken pieces derived from the antiquated oppression and prejudiced ideals that are being left behind. It serves as a last hoorah for the bullies who never learned how to feel big without making others feel small.

We need to stand together as people of color, as women, as LGBTQ+, as the disabled, and as allies to make America less “great” and focus first on good for all.

President Donald Trump may have taken over our country, but he cannot take over our ideologies and our acceptance of others, and that is something we cannot forget.