By Cendri Johnson
Nicholas Jzyk is one of many students at Shoreline CC who were shocked after the results of Election Day. Jzyk was concerned that a lot of people were going to get hurt, as things like health insurance and social progress get taken away from them.
Jzyk said that he “saw that fear … people during our (post-election) meeting at Shoreline were scared, were crying, were angry, were frustrated.”
After this session, Jzyk was approached by a Hispanic man who told him, “Thank you for caring.” The man said that he was just happy that there were actually white people who didn’t hate him.
Jzyk believes that one of the key issues concerning college students like us, especially the millennials, is the prospect of getting kicked off of our parents’ insurance and losing our access to healthcare.
At this point, however, Jzyk is more worried about others than himself.
“Everyone is going to get hurt. I will probably push through it the best because I have probably the highest level of privilege … it kills me knowing that they’re all going to be at risk,” he said.
For Jzyk, the issue of the social tumult surrounding this election has become more personal than he would have previously expected.
Jzyk has a friend on Twitter. They met online and started just casually talking about a month ago. This friend is Native American and lives in Mississippi.
The night of the election, after Trump’s victory had been announced, they were chatting online, and after a period of silence, Jzyk’s friend asked if he could call him. While on the phone, Jzyk was taken aback by what he heard from the other end of the line.
“I’d never heard him cry before and he was just distraught … He’s like, ‘a bunch of guys came over and were throwing large rocks … at our house … and wrote in spray paint on the house, ‘die,’” Jzyk said.
Because of experiences like this, Jzyk is most concerned for other people and the social change that he foresees coming with this new president.
“I worry what the cultural representation of him winning means for women,” he said. “Likely having done what he said, what makes them think there will ever be justice? Even someone who does that can become the most powerful person in the world, so it’s like it doesn’t even matter apparently.”
Jzyk also feels like there’s a certain mentality within our nation, particularly among Trump supporters, that is not good for our country.
“People going against what they claim is anti-PC, I would call it more anti-compassion and love and patience and acceptance,” he said.
Amidst what many people are calling “the end of our world as we know it,” Jzyk believes that “unity among those who feel threatened” is the best way to get through this.