SAN ANTONIO – As the country waits and watches a historic election unfold, some San Antonio high schoolers are expressing some feelings of anxiety at the outcome of the race.
Dusengimana Ernest, a Burbank High School student, summed up his emotions over the race for the Whitehouse in just a few words.
“I feel very anxious and scared,” Ernest said.
Kate Ortiz, another student at Burbank High School, said she and her friends are scared of the close outcome so far.
“Me and my friends we’re so scared honestly, like, it’s like really close to the point, like, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Ortiz said.
Gilbert Vasquez, a Government teacher at Burbank High School, is utilizing the election to teach students in real-time.
“With the election going on, you just have an abundance of information to cover in class," Vasquez said. “It’s not the general textbook stuff. So, you always have something to discuss.”
Vasquez said students have learned about battleground states, what each candidate stands for and were required to watch the presidential debates as part of his class assignments.
“Talked about some of the processes, especially the Supreme Court Justices that he nominated,” Vasquez said.
Ortiz said she hopes the next president focuses on immigration.
“I myself am not a very political person, but I honestly have gotten really intrigued this year,” Ortiz said.
Even as the country waits to find out who the next president will be, Ortiz says she understands emotions are high but that there is no need for violence.
“There’s nothing that you can do to change this, and this process is meant to be a fair process,” Ortiz said.
Ernest said she thinks the next president needs to focus on jobs.
“This pandemic has really caused a lot of unemployment and problems with a lot of people, and it’s just unfair. But with a better economy, I feel we could overcome this,” Ernest said.
Ernest is concerned about what could happen during the next election when he does vote.
“It kind of scares me to know that in the future, I might have to go, I might have to go against this and not be so proud of becoming a Republican or Democrat, whichever one I choose, because of the hate and backlash I’d get,” Ernest said.