Michigan State made me vote for Hillary Clinton

I’ve always been pretty liberal. Coming from the Bay Area of California, that’s just how I grew up. Because of my liberal upbringing, I’ve never been a fan of moderate Democrats like Hillary Clinton – and before I started college, I was all in for Bernie or no one at all.

This all changed after I came to MSU.

Yes, I’ve heard the backlash about her email scandal. I’ve heard about her corruption and her policy flip-flopping. But none of that has swayed me, and I now fully support Hillary Clinton as our next president.

Before I came to Michigan State, I was so liberal my ideology bordered on socialism. I believed there should be more taxes and more governmental responsibilities. I was a full blown Bernie supporter and I flaunted it. Bernie talked about providing free tuition for public colleges, making the top 10 percent pay more in taxes and restoring our democracy by getting big money out of politics. To a West Coast girl, nothing sounded better.

But once I got to MSU, I found myself surrounded by center-leaning Democrats. My first day on campus I was swept into chalking up the sidewalks with College Democrat slogans, and honestly, I’d never met a more welcoming group of people. Although Clinton had never been a favorite of mine before, College Dems soon convinced me to change my mind.

In my classes at MSU that focused on diversity and ethics, something emphasized again and again was the importance of fighting against the inherent sexism that thrives in this country, as well as ongoing injustices like the gendered wage gap. Clinton has been fighting against the wage gap for years, supports a woman’s right to choose, and has repeatedly supported the rights of people belonging to the LGBTQ+ community.

Trump, on the other hand, has made countless degrading comments about women – seriously, way too many to count.

In my environmental ethics class, both liberals and conservatives agreed that environmental conservation is an important investment for the good of the planet – an idea which Trump’s denial of climate change would not sit well with.

Trump has never been properly involved in politics before, which means he has little to no understanding of how things work on Capitol Hill. Trump’s plans involve nothing of substance, either; he claims his ideas will “Make America Great Again,” but none of his proposed policies give credence to this.

Nothing I’ve heard from Trump supporters is enough to convince me to vote for someone with just as many failed attempts at business as he has successes. Just take a look at the fraudulent Trump University, or look at all of the times his companies have declared bankruptcy.

Trump’s falsified university squandered thousands of dollars from hopeful students who just thought they were getting a leg up in the realty business. Finally, Trump has bragged about tax evasion, even though taxes are essential to any prospering country.

These scams and failures only prove that he knows nothing about handling the country, and are an indication of the chaos that would ensue if he were to win the election.

Meanwhile, Clinton has served as First Lady, as Senator, and as Secretary of State, so she knows how to work cooperatively with members of Congress and fight for change in the Oval Office. In other words: if anyone has political experience, it’s Clinton.

Furthermore, most of our generation are concerned about the current job market. With Trump’s current budget plan, 3.5 million jobs would disappear while Clinton’s budget plan would create 10 million more job opportunities.

According to some on the right, those of us on the left just want “riots and book burnings.” I would argue that these are extremists, and far and few between. The rest of us – the mature, level-headed side of the left wing – only want more collaboration in Congress, more equal pay for equal work, just…more.

We want to fight and lobby until women finally make $1 to every man’s $1. We want to crack down on those corrupt members of the criminal justice system who believe they can abuse the law just because they are enforcers of it. We want to get rid of the existing inequalities that have developed from a long history of systemic oppression. We want more transparency and awareness about what happens in Washington, DC, and we want more citizens to be better informed about policies.

And these are only a few examples of what needs to be done to make America truly “great again.”

Clinton’s tax plan provides more tax breaks for the poor and more middle class families, rather than only giving tax breaks to the ridiculously wealthy (like Trump’s plan does).

She has a clearly laid out plan about how many refugees should be allowed into the country on a yearly basis, rather than blatantly rejecting refugees like Trump has.

In addition to being incredibly unsupportive of allowing any refugees into the country, Trump has repeatedly talked about how America needs a wall around the Mexican border. He has also encouraged violence at his rallies, something Clinton has never done. I could never support a president who encourages racism and violence.

Meanwhile, Clinton embraces the Black Lives Matter movement, the newest civil rights movement protesting and bringing attention to the undeniable racism in the judicial system.

I stand firm in my belief that Hillary Clinton is the right person to replace President Obama on November 8. I will be proudly voting to elect the first woman president in US history, and against all odds, I believe we can do it. She is, without a doubt, the right choice, and I can proudly say that I’m With Her.