Dear future president,

My name is Isa Hoffman, and I am a highschool student from California. I would love to ask you to please, during your term as president, address the problems in the education system in this country.

At first I was going to write this letter about trying to improve public school education. I was going to mention trying to involve women and girls in math and science, and about trying to create unbiased, inclusive curriculums, specifically in history. However, in light of what's currently happening, it's clear that citizens in the US need a far different kind of education. We need to learn how to be tolerant.

I am extremely lucky. I come from a place where the population is very diverse. I have friends of all different races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, and nationalities. I was raised in a family where there are people who practice all three of the major monotheistic religions, and I was taught the importance of understanding and respecting differences, of kindness and tolerance, and of equality and justice starting at a very young age. from Kindergarten through high school, I have taken part in a myriad of activities intended to reinforce the core values of my community: love, respect, peace, understanding, and equality. I am very lucky to have grown up in the environment that I did, but it is clear that most others weren't so fortunate.

The appallingly large number of people who voted in favor of Trump, a man who will be on trial for child rape in less than a month, who wants to repeal the marriage equality act, and who has dehumanized entire populations of people, shows me that our country needs to be educated. We need to learn how to understand and accept differences, even if we don't necessarily agree. we need to learn to respect and value all human lives, no matter how much we may disagree with them. We need to learn how to love the people around us as if they were our family, because in a way, we are. We are all members of the family of humans, and we're all the same. Hate is rooted in fear, and fear is rooted in misunderstanding. Misunderstanding is rooted in ignorance, and the ignorance needs to end.

Sincerely,

Isa Hoffman