With the 2020 election cycle coming to an end and a new year on the horizon, I should feel hopeful for the state of this nation and for the state of politics.

However, I do not.

I feel like this small win with Democrat Joe Biden being elected will come with even bigger setbacks. This might be from the mindset that 2020 has given me. This year has been a total fiasco, but at least it has been a consistent mess person- ally, academically, politically, socially and mentally.

President-elect Biden won and we have the first woman vice president and she is a woman of color, which is a win for me. It is about time for this Western nation to show Western ideals and elect a woman to the highest office, but second place will do for now.

The nation is now looking at this president-elect with a high bar of expectations. There is much social, political and economic injustice right now and President-elect Biden needs to fix it. There are still Black Lives Matter protests occurring in response to the constant police brutality that we face. What changes are going to be made to the criminal justice system?

COVID-19 caused millions of Americans to be out of work. What changes are going to oc- cur to the health care system, to the economy and to welfare to aid struggling Americans? The answer to these problems is not solely on President-elect Biden, but on Congress and the Supreme Court as well.America has checks and balances for a reason, and each branch needs to start working together no matter their personal ideology.

In the end, we all want the same thing for America — for this country to be for the people. The way we get there might be different, but we need to start looking at the big picture.

People also need to realize that true change does not stop at voting. We need to continue to protest, be informed, lobby and vote in non-presidential elections. We need change systemically. This does not only fall on politicians. It falls on all of us.

So, I will ask my question again: What now, America?

KELSIE RUDD

Chesterfield County