Looking toward the future with hope

By Frannie Tyner

January 20, 2009. A day that nobody will forget. On this very morning, Barrack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. As a million and more braved the cold together on the national mall, 697 students and faculty took the morning away from classes, and moved into the Bishop’s gym to watch president-elect Barrack Obama take to office.

To say it was awe inspiring would be an understatement, to say that it was an important moment in history would not do the moment justice, to say that it was hopeful would undermine the more important and realistic message, and to describe the wave of emotion that took over the gym that morning…well I don’t think it can be described.

As nation, we are in a dismal time, facing the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. We are fighting two wars. We have an unemployment rate of roughly 7.2 percent. Our environment is rotting. Millions of people go without healthcare plans. Public schools are laying off more and more teachers in an effort to cut back spending. And on this particular Tuesday morning, these issues were confronted. There was no fabricating the fact that it is going to take time before the things around us get better.

As a “young person” who, within a matter of years, will enter the professional world and provide for myself, I lately have been feeling amiss. How can I hope to achieve what my parents have? How can I make a better life for my children? With these trying times not only in our country, but around the globe, a lot of young people are asking themselves this very question.

Obama’s answer to this question: “Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights. Today, I say to you that the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met.”These 70 words brought not only goose bumps to my skin, but hope to my dismal thoughts. There is a long road ahead of us, yet just because the ride is long, doesn’t mean that it won’t end. We can have hope for our country. And this hope is something we need.Frannie Tyner is a junior at The Bishop’s School and assistant editor of The Tower.