My Fourth of July Experience This Year.
It has become a yearly tradition for my friend Anthony and I to spend the evening of the 4th at Nordhoff High School in Ojai. There is a stadium there, complete with a small field. Every Independence Day, food trucks converge on the school, as well as local revelers who shell out $10 cash in order to spread a blanket out on the turf and view the riveting fireworks spectacular.
This year promised to be even better than the last. I started off the evening strong by grabbing a vegan Italian ice cream cup at one of the stalls. Anthony got his face painted—red, white, and blue, of course. I had even pre-prepared for the event by wearing blue jeans, white socks, and a red Zumba shirt. I wanted to be patriotic on this special day. Shortly after we got there, the band started playing, and I internally danced to the tantalizing rhythm of “Surfin’ U.S.A.”
It wasn’t long before we ran into my mother’s old friend and roommate Stacy. She was enjoying the festivities with her husband Ian. Because Anthony went to high school at Nordhoff—class of 2011—he often runs into old acquaintances there on the 4th. While he and I were dancing in front of the band, I could not help but do a double-take; right in front of us was a woman who looked just like Hillary Clinton.
Seeing Hillary’s doppelganger brought me back, immediately and unfortunately, to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. I can still remember sitting in front of the projector at the Cooler at Occidental as an undergrad, watching the results come in live on CNN. What promised to be a victorious evening quickly turned into a total, jarring loss for both myself and the vast majority of the Oxy campus community.
I struggled to pay attention as the fireworks went off. Normally, watching them is obviously very easy for me, especially at Nordhoff; however this year was different. I just could not stop thinking about politics.
We are so fortunate to live in a country with free and fair elections. A country where our core rights and liberties are enshrined in a constitution. A country where anything is possible.
Every 4th, I am reminded of how far we have come since this great nation was first founded, back in 1776. Just a little over eight years ago, the case known as Obergefell was handed down by the Supreme Court. This decision immediately legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. It was so momentous to me that I still, to this day, have a framed copy of the L.A. Times from back in 2015, proclaiming: “‘EQUAL DIGNITY’ UNDER THE LAW.”
To conclude, I truly feel that the 4th is not just a day for celebration, but also a day of introspection. This year, instead of merely enjoying the fireworks, I additionally was able to reflect on what it means to me to be an American.