Annabel Edwards  On January 10th, 2017, our 44th president gave his final farewell to the country. After eight years as our commander-in-chief, Barack Obama provided his last words and hopes for our next presidency, as well as his aspirations for our future. For an overview, Obama began his speech by referring back to his first work in Chicago and his belief that “change only happens when ordinary people get involved, engage, and come together.” He continued to talk about America’s persistence to build a better nation in the effort to follow the gift given to us by our Founding Fathers, “liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” President Obama’s focus was on the state of our democracy, and the idea that we, as a country, can change and progress in all areas. He addressed the idea that America faces many challenges in the process of change, and that “for every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back.” This statement was my favorite line in his entire speech. The belief that we always face difficulties in our country is evident, and like Obama said, although we face difficulties, in the overarching sweep, America is a forward-thinking nation that continues to reflect its change through the people. He later shifted the focus to addressing the state of our democracy, specifically the threats we face, but also the goals we can set for ourselves in these upcoming years. We face many threats like racism, inequality, and discrimination, and Obama made the point of saying that changing laws for these threats aren’t enough. We must work as a nation to change the hearts of future generations to overcome each threat we face. We must prioritize our goals and overcome our differences through communication, compromise, and the help from our future generations and democracy. Obama also addressed the terrorism that plagues our country, and how overcoming each tragedy together can effectively decrease the threats and the overarching fear of terrorism. Lastly, he expressed our strong need for democracy, and democracy’s strong need for us. Our Constitution is a gift to America, but we are the change that makes our country a better nation, and we’ve been given this amazing task of improving such a great nation. To end, he thanked his family, Joe Biden, the staff of the White House and the people of America and asked for one final request for more change. His farewell was an important remark about our country and democracy. Like he said, our country faces threats everyday from both within and out, but this can change. We as a country, and even Latin as a community, are not weakened any threats, but must compromise our differences in opinions and stand up as a nation. Although some may not have the same political opinions as our president, his advice regarding the future of our nation should not be taken lightly, nor be overlooked by those who oppose him. His advice applies to every Latin student, citizen, worker, adult, and child of America. We can never push forward if we do not get our hands dirty and have faith in our leaders, in each other, and in America itself. After eight years, it was sad to hear President Obama give his last remarks. No matter which political party you belong to, there is no doubt Obama changed our country, whether you believe for the better or for the worse. He was the first black president, influencing our future generations and setting the standard for what America is capable of achieving. His faith in our country lasted eight years, and he always believed in us. Yes, we can. ]]>