Nathan Pai Schmitt is an English teacher at STRIVE Prep Excel high school in Denver. He is also co-founder and student mentor at HackSchool, a socially conscious makerspace that serves students from three Denver high schools.
Wednesday was the most intense day in my teaching career. For many of our students, it was one of the worst days of their life. What did it feel like to walk into school the morning after Donald Trump was elected president? Fear.
It doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree with our students politically. It’s easy to criticize people’s opinions. It’s harder to look a crying teenager in the eyes and say something meaningful.
By their words, I heard the American dream die twelve times before lunch. Our job is to help them put it back together.
Our students wanted to process the election results. So we did. Some of their words were optimistic, and some of their words were not. They wanted to give advice to younger students (and, I suspect, to themselves). And let me tell you: these words were hard-earned.
Enough from me. Here’s what they had to say. The quotes are from letters the students wrote. Many students wanted to write to younger students, and many just wanted to free-write their thoughts.
“I’m scared that if my dad gets deported, they’re going to kill him when he tries to come back to me.”
“Nobody deserves to fear the president. You should change this fear into action, eventually. Don’t rush your feelings! Feel the way you want and don’t let anybody tell you that you’re feeling wrong.”
“Many of you might feel that there is nothing in your will to change the outcome, but you can change yourself. Education really is the key to salvation. Being an understanding, humble person can take you so far in life. Do not let fear and hatred overcome you.”
“Do not be afraid of standing up for what you believe in. Do not let this election discourage you as a person or where you came from, but let it be a lesson to you. Educate yourself and understand the sexism and racism in this world. Today is a day to grieve, but from then on it’s a fight. It’s a fight every day so that one day there will be a pure world with no hate. We may never be alive to see that day come, but know in our hearts that we fought for it to be possible.”
“He has only proved that we were wrong when we tried to believe that as Americans, we are smart, talented, and progressive. We aren’t. We have shown the face of hate across our country. Americans can be selfish, but all of this is okay. We cannot change it. We can only continue and be proud to be so diverse.”
“Why should I keep working hard? America has turned it’s back on immigrants.”
“I know most of you guys and girls are afraid, sad, and broken, and you really don’t know what to do. I know everyone is afraid to lose your loved ones, especially if you’re a minority. I can’t lie. I’m broken too. Shit, I’m even sad, but I’ve learned that the only way things will get better is if we all stick to our dreams and what things are important to us. What happened yesterday with the presidential election is gone. Trump is the face of the country, but that shouldn’t matter. Your family, your friends, everyone you love, your dreams, and hope, even yourself is what matters.”
“I, along with the 10-11 million undocumented immigrants living in this country, now have to live in even more fear. We didn’t have a voice in the election and for the next four consecutive years, our voice will continue to remain unheard. We live in a country where injustices happen all around us. We as people have to stand up against these — and most importantly, if you have the right, vote!”
“Stay positive and don’t let this election bring you down. This election was to bring each other together and it should motivate us to want to change the world and to educate ourselves. What’s crazy is that when we think of Trump, we think of hate, but that doesn’t mean we should hate. We should keep showing love and staying positive. If we all come together, we could make a change.”
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