With the presidential election over, some students were shocked by Donald Trump’s win. Others saw it coming.  

Disappointment rang out for some students because of the divisiveness of the country and its future, but many said they’ve moved on and continued living their lives despite whatever feelings they had about the election. 

Junior biology major Naomi Jackson said she has never really had a heart for politics. She said the divisive nature of politics is something she’s never valued in her life, adding that the polarity she saw in this election made her sad.  

“I have friends who will stop being friends because they voted for one person,” Jackson said. 

Jackson made the decision not to vote, noting that while president elect Donald Trump has his “situations,” she felt removed from the political decisions he makes on a national level. “As long as he doesn’t send us into World War Three, I’m good,” she said. 

Jackson said she was a little surprised about the results because she felt that support for Democrat candidate Kamala Harris was overwhelming. 

Freshman psychology major Miranda Schulz didn’t vote for a different reason: she couldn’t. She was 17 at the time voting took place and said that even though she wasn’t able to cast her ballot, she felt she was desensitized to some elements in politics. 

Schulz echoed Jackson’s slight surprise at Trump’s victory, stating that she felt support for Harris was loud. “I felt there was no way, but there was clearly a way,” Schulz said. 

Schulz said she was empowered by what she observed as a higher turnout of young voters but was disempowered about the election’s outcome. Overall, she said she feels unsure and anxious about the future. 

Other students were not surprised at the results. 

“I was hoping for a different outcome, but also, not super surprising,” said sophomore criminal justice major Kiya Augustad. She said she finds solace in Colorado being a safe state but still thinks the overall situation is scary. 

Freshman electrical engineer Micah Bean was satisfied and hopeful for the future with the election results, adding that the outcome was not surprising at all. 

As soon as Joe Biden dropped from the race, Bean felt that the scales were tipped in Trump’s favor. Before Biden dropped out, Bean thought his cognitive abilities hindered his support. He said Harris did garner more support due to her competence as a public speaker but felt that Trump had a lot of quiet supporters behind the scenes, despite the media poking fun at him. 

Bean added that Trump’s appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast as a tactic to garner support was successful. 

The moment that Bean started supporting Trump more was when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the race and endorsed the president-elect, noting it was as a big turning point in Trump’s campaign. 

Dani de Leon, a fourth year studying geography felt that both Harris and Trump were inadequate. “Either way, it was gonna suck,” she said. Like the other students, she felt the division between parties was palpable.  

While she did lean toward Harris between the two and was confused by the support for Trump, she didn’t have her hopes high about Harris winning. “People would rather have a convicted felon over a woman,” she said. 

But she did say that she and others around her were uncertain about Trump winning.  

“Everybody was like, ‘Harris is gonna win’… even a lot of my friends who voted for Trump were surprised he won,” de Leon said. 

Regardless of results, de Leon said that people need to stop idolizing political figures because it becomes a catalyst for polarization amongst the parties. 

“I’m not about to cry over a dude named Donald,” de Leon said.

Photo courtesy of CNN.