Well, 2013 is here! It was a great way to ring in the New Year...watching Anderson Cooper & Kathy Griffin (the funniest duo on TV during New Year's Eve festivities)! 2012 was a long year with many ups and downs. It was a great year for me; but, 2013 will be even better. There are so many things I can only image that will happen this year. Whether it's love, graduate school, occupation, politics, or some other things, it will be the best that I can make it.
With regards to graduate school, I am planning on return to Western Carolina University this semester to begin the process of earning a Master of Arts in Public Administration. I want to focus my studies on NonProfit Management and Public Policy. I figure with an MPA and those areas of focus, I'll be able to advocate for the issues I think are the most important. Bear in mind that my top issues are Education, Foreign Policy, Healthcare, and LGBT rights. I think with those issues being the focal point of politics and policies within the next ten-to-fifteen years, it only makes sense that I help make history by leading the way to equality for all Americans and policies that benefit all Americans (both foreign and domestic). I believe that everyone is entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as others have and earned. As an American, we are defined by the things that make us equal. That is what our country was founded on and that is what is within our guiding document. I think it is a high travesty that many Americans would deny their fellow country men [and women] the same rights they have. Personally, it is okay to disagree with someone and still respect them; however, when one crosses the line from respect over to bigotry and judgements...then that is when we have a problem.
I'm not just talking about Marriage Equality by the way. I'm also talking about religious tolerance. You see, the founding fathers were adamant about the separation of church and state. That is why is is in the Constitution that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" and also that "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States". I just still find that, in 2013, people still tend to vote on their elected officials based on their religious preference. If anything, that is un-american. Especially if a religion wants to deny rights to Americans that have that right granted to them by their own government. Again, I'm not bashing religion; I'm simply making the point that the United States has a Constitution which outlines a strict separation of church and state.
2012 was a monumental year for politics and 2013 will [hopefully] be an even better year! With the re-election of the nation's first African-American President, Barack Obama, it proved that the United States is finally progressing to the point where other countries have been for at least twenty years. I mean, this President has done A LOT to progress the nation into the twenty-first century: nominating (and having confirmed) more women to the United States Supreme Court (and having the first ever hispanic woman on the court); the first President to ever support Same-Sex marriage (after much discussions though); signing the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; championed the fight against SB 1070; Achieved a monumental Healthcare legislation overhaul (which was proved to be Constitutional); Repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; got unemployment under 8%; eliminated multiple leaders of Al-Qaeda (including Osama Bin Linden); he even ensured student loans would not double and increased pell grant spending at the same time; and so much more! I think 2013 will bring further progression and that President Obama will take the United States forward into a positive and prosperous century. Many have said that the twenty-first century will belong to the United States of America. If anything, more states will join the ranks of Marriage Equality and, one day, all fifty states will allow same-sex couples an opportunity to marry their loved one.
Well, I hope that 2013 will be the continuation of forward-thinking and prosperity of the United States. For me, 2013 will be my year of changes...for the better and not for anything less!
