It hasn’t been that long since the election ended with President-elect Joe Biden winning the election, pleasing some, upsetting others. Nonetheless, candidate Joe Biden won the election, therefore he will be sworn in January as the 46th President of the United States. With Biden winning the Presidency, California Senator Kamala D. Harris will become the U.S. Vice President. 

“It’s amazing that the United States finally has a first African American female Vice President. I believe that she and Biden are going to change the nation for the better,” said Francisco Melgar, a junior.

Melgar finds it amazing for Harris to have become the first African American female Vice President of the United States and hopes her and Biden will help shape the nation for the better.

Upon talking about Harris’s stance on police and race BBC News mentioned in their article, “Ms. Harris has been known to be broadly aligned with the rest of her party in supporting law enforcement reforms but rather than openly call for defunding of police departments, as many liberal Democrats desire, she has spoken of “reimagining how we do public safety in America.”

In 2019, Harris had gone more in depth with her own Medicare for All healthcare plan in which she stated that all Americans would immediately have the ability to buy into Medicare. She also stated how there would be a 10-year phase-in period where newborns and the uninsured would be automatically enrolled into Medicare while giving others time to transition.

Not only is Kamala Harris becoming Vice President considered significant for some, sophomore’s Alondra Ramirez and Cailah Edwards believe it is a major accomplishment for people of color and women to gain Harris as America’s Vice President.

“I am so proud that she’s managed to break this glass ceiling in the world of politics,” said Ramirez. “Although she originally ran for president, it’s still a significant achievement. For a woman of color to be in the white house making monumental decisions and contributing to America’s betterment (since Michelle Obama) just inspires me so much. Her victory is slowly paving the way for the first female president to be elected to office someday. I’ve also repeatedly heard mention of Kamala’s checkered past in her home state of California. Personally, I think that controversy should not affect the gravity of her achievement but I hope she’s changed and will accomplish a lot as Vice President. Besides the future implications of her as soon-to-be vice president, I also really admire her charisma and personality. I think it’s really important that you have trust in an elected official, especially when they make decisions that can directly affect you. Overall, on January 20th, 2021 when Kamala Harris alongside Joe Biden are inaugurated as the 46th ‘POTUS’ and ‘VPOTUS’ I’ll be elated and full of hope for the future of our country.”

Although Harris has a past of controversy, Ramirez believes that her past issues shouldn’t weigh down her recent accomplishments and seems she has changed for the better.

“I’ve known Kamala Harris for some time now,” said Cailah Edwards. “From when she was a district attorney to her being an amazing public speaker today. I think that her becoming Vice president-elect today as not only a woman but an African American woman is making history. It’s an accomplishment that can show young girls and young women that no goal is unreachable. No matter the issues or hardships you can face along the way. In 2017 I was honored to attend a leadership summit at which Kamala Harris spoke at. She talked about female empowerment and most importantly to Stand up, Speak out, and to always make a difference.”

Caliah expresses how Kamala becoming Vice President can show women around the world that even though we all face hardships along the way, it should never drag us down from reaching our goals and becoming something great.

When discussing Harris’s stance on the issue of healthcare, Harris spoke out in an article for the New York Times back in 2018 about how her mother had been struggling with colon cancer and her support for the Affordable Care Act. 

Harris wrote, “I believe that healthcare should be a right, but the reality is that it is still a privilege in this country. We need that to change.”

Although Harris had originally tried running for President and ended up as Vice President it’s still a huge accomplishment becoming the first female African American Vice President of the United States. Even with her past of controversies she isn’t letting that get to her and ruin what she has planned; Harris has stated that she fights for justice and she’ll continue doing what she feels is right.