The following article originally appeared in Juniata High School's newspaper The Arrowhead.

Friday, January 20, 2017 marks the day Donald Trump was inaugurated into office, beginning a new four-year term as president. This ceremony takes place every time a new presidential term begins, even if the president is continuing in office for a second term. Since 1937, due to the 20th Amendment of the Constitution, it has occurred on January 20th. Though there is a great importance to his inauguration, much focus was also put on the Women’s March that occurred the day after on January 21st. 

A wide variety of reactions to the march presented themselves, both positive and negative. Personally, I have friends who went and I have friends who were opposed to the protests. There were numerous women, children, and men who attended, which totaled to an estimated 500,000 people in the District of Columbia alone. Amazingly, no arrests were made during these marches. No matter what political party you belong to, I definitely believe many people had an opinion about the march and its correspondence to the inauguration. 

The Women’s March was supposed to represent many things, but whether those issues came across during the march or not is debatable. Whether you attended the inauguration or the Women’s March or neither, it is important to get involved in your government to make the changes you want to see. It all starts with the people.