My Two Cents: Election Results DO Matter

It’s Tuesday and time for my two cents.

My friend has a brilliant daughter who is a junior in college studying at a top-ranked HBCU. To protect her identity, we’ll call her Susie. This young woman plans to pursue a medical degree, so snagging an internship at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) would be an ideal assignment.

During Christmas 2024 break, Susie applied to the CDC in anticipation of starting an internship this coming summer. But that was not to be. Recently, she received a letter stating, “We are writing to inform you that the Summer 2025 CDC Internships Program has been cancelled due to recent Executive Orders.” Alternatively, she has accepted an internship at another federal agency, but not one directly related to her field of study which is medicine. We can only hope that internship won't be canceled.

Susie is a resilient person who will excel at any internship she is awarded and will turn that learning into something to benefit her ultimate career in medicine, so I’m not worried about her. What I am worried about is the deliberate way in which this administration is killing dreams and directly harming its citizens. Some of it is done out of stupidity, some out of spite, some out of hate. Regardless of the motive, these actions will create a brain drain in some of the most important federal agencies especially the one that protects the health of Americans.

Remember, too, systemic racism has been afoot in the medical profession for decades and it is only recently that Black females have started getting a foothold in the field. Susie, a Black female, had a chance to gain critical knowledge about health care and medicine that would have helped prepare her for her chosen career. Not only that, but Susie’s fresh eyes and sharp mind may have contributed to the CDC’s mission. More concerning though, if the internship program is terminated, it leaves me wondering what other critical services and activities of this vital federal agency are being gutted.

Susie’s situation is an example of how election results do matter. They have a serious impact at a personal, intimate level. Whether you voted for this, or not, everyday Americans are learning what FAFO means.