In the 2024 presidential election, Trump has secured the victory. He beat Harris by 75 electoral votes, as well as the popular vote by around 4 million votes. This win has brought quite an intense mix of feelings within the Skyline student body, ranging from pride and relief to fear and heartbreak. Multiple students have come forward with their thoughts, but due to political tensions, they have decided to remain anonymous.
The first student is a Sophomore, and although he couldn’t vote, he’s quite an avid supporter of the Trump campaign. He claims that, if he could vote, he would have voted for Trump. “I was actually quite surprised. As well as his campaigns have been, I really thought Kamala was in the lead,” the student shared. He feels the main reason his support for Trump is so unwavering is due to his prior years in office. He also shared the economic appeal, “He was president for 4 years, and something that I really liked about that time was that prices of things were good.” The student also explained how the current wars were not occuring during Trump’s term. “I’m not saying that Biden is a bad president, but I am saying that during Biden’s presidency we’ve had Ukraine vs. Russia and Israel vs. Palestine, but during Trump we didn’t have that. I did enjoy the peace.” He held passionate beliefs about Roe v. Wade as well: “I am definitely pro life. If you’re going to get pregnant, you should probably expect a baby.” He also explained that if there’s a situation where the mother is in danger, he believes in exceptions. He spoke on Trump’s mass deportation plan as well. “While not everyone agrees with me on this, I do look forward to illegal immigrants being deported. I’m not saying that they are all bad and all that; I’m just saying that there have been some that got out of line, and if they want to get into the USA, they can fill out the papers and wait in line like the rest.”
The next student is also a Sophomore, but her opinions differ drastically. She says she isn’t particularly a fan of Harris, but she would have voted for her if she could. For her, she feels that this election was personal. She is a daughter of immigrants, and the issue of mass deportation is the main cause of her fear for Trump’s second term. “I have mixed feelings about it. I don’t blame him for wanting to get criminals out, but I think he should also understand [that] a lot of other people’s lives are on the line. There are people who have been here for over 50 years who are just trying to live their lives and find a good future for their kids,” she explained. The student also spoke about a speech she saw him give at a rally, “I saw that he had a speech saying that he really cares about kids and their futures, but I don’t understand how somebody could care about a kid if he wants to take their family away.” She expressed how the main emotion she’s feeling right now is fear. “I’m just worried that something could happen to my mom. It’s really scary to know that there’s a chance for your only family to get taken away from you in the blink of an eye.” She also explained her confusion and frustration seeing Skyline’s student body wearing MAGA merchandise. “I would understand if they were adults. They don’t even pay taxes. A lot of them work around the area at McDonald’s or Macey’s […] immigrants built where you work. They built your house. When you go to Cafe Rio to eat, the ones cooking your meal are immigrants,” she remarked. She believes that his supporters don’t actually understand what his policies will do and that they view immigrants as problems, not people. She said, “It’s just really hard to live somewhere where you’re not really wanted.” When asked if there was anything else she wanted to add, she commented, “I think that people that were born here and their parents weren’t, they should value their time with them, because you never know if something could happen to them. You never know if the next day you’re not going to see them anymore. So just value your time.”
