Trump inauguration: Students reflect on unity, history
Students from across the country stopped Friday and watched the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Pocomoke High School was one of the many schools in the nation — and its was a clear message.
Among the many posters in Meme Suznavick's classroom at Pocomoke High School was a flag with a picture of the world on it, and a poster of Linus and Schroeder from the "Peanuts" comics with the word "unity" across the top.
Unity was the message Suznavick was teaching in her history class as they watched the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
“Today is more than just the limos and the famous people,” she said. “It’s about the transfer of power. It’s live history in the making.”
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She also wanted to emphasize just how special the peaceful transition of power between presidents is to the United States.
Suznavick explained she has students in her classes from Vietnam and Ukraine, where the peaceful transition of power is not as commonplace — and said how lucky the United States is to have this time honored tradition.
She also emphasized that even if someone does not agree with someone in a position of higher authority, they have that right, but they need to learn how to get involved to make a difference.
"The inauguration represents a change of power," she said. "And what I've been talking about with my students is that whether you agree or disagree with the person coming into power, there are things you can learn or that you should know because you are a citizen of the United States."
The students were studying the words used in inaugural addresses. They followed along and marked words Trump used which were the most common in previous inaugurations.
Students in Suznavick’s class were thinking back to the first inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009, the first inauguration many of them remember.
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They compared the two inaugurations, when they as students can take a more active role in their government.
“You didn’t understand (Obama’s first inauguration) as much,” said junior Meghan Suplick, 16. “But now you feel like you are a part of something bigger. It’s cool to see how it all comes together and all works.”
The peaceful transition of power was something that weighed heavily on students’ minds.
One such student was James Hurley, 15, who isn’t a part of Suznavick’s normal history class, but was invited because of his interest in politics.
“(The peaceful transition of power) makes me feel lucky and appreciative we are in this situation and that we don’t have to fight for our rights,” he said. “We need to focus on other countries who do not have this right.”
Suplick, the junior at Pocomoke, also added it is important the United States stays united.
She pointed to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, who were in attendance at Trump’s inauguration.
She said their appearance there is symbolic, and should show Americans they need to come together to support the Trump presidency.
Suplick was not alone in this belief.
“We need to learn about our differences and come together,” said Rebeka Kline, 17, another student in Suznavick’s class. “We need to just get along.”
Suznavick said that was the importance of the day's lesson.
She and her students have discussed how important it is for Americans to work together — even if that means working with people they might not like, she said.
“We may have problems discussing our differences, but there are still things we can do as citizens to make things happen,” Suznavick said. “That’s the important part.”
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