Dear America, 

We just started a new year, ending one that had so many issues and caused America to divide. In this new year, we have appointed a new president of the United States, Joe Biden. In this presidential election, we experienced a lot of history. The pandemic caused an unprecedented amount of mail-in votes, creating a controversial election in which former President Trump refused to accept the loss. Instead, Biden was elected and is the oldest president to ever get sworn into office while his vice president, Kamala Harris, is the first female, African American, and Asian American vice president ever. This led to it being the most important election of all time. 

A global pandemic overtook our nation dating back to March and has ravaged our country severely. Because of the pandemic, schools were forced to shut down as educators developed a plan for kids to continue to receive an education, businesses transitioned to an online world in their own homes, and many small business owners had to close doors and lose their lifelong goals. America just totaled its 400,000th death because of COVID-19 and unemployment remains high. As we were fighting a deadly virus, a terrible situation managed to get worse because of the treatment of an African-American man, George Floyd, in the “I can’t breathe” event.  Mass protests ensued as African-Americans fought for their social rights to not be discriminated against because of the color of their skin. A week into the new year, additional protests occurred as a bunch of angry Trump rioters stormed the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. as Congress was confirming the results of the election. These protesters were looking to reverse the results of the election. 

As we swap out our calendars in hope for a better year, we are reminded of the terrible events that have labeled 2020 to be a terrible year. I hope that this new year and a new president will help fuel a better nation. We can overtake the virus by taking the proper precautions recommended by health officials and a new government to enforce them. We can reduce police brutality and have all citizens of America join together as one, whether we are white, black or identify as another ethnicity or religious group. We can beat this virus and join together under a new leader, making America a better place for all to live. 

Nikolas Supczak