Raised in the era of Trump politics, young voters never envisioned a Harris win

Though she voted for Vice President Kamala Harris and hoped the Democrat would come out on top, 20-year-old Morgan State University student Raegan Green said she "wasn't at all surprised" by the outcome of Tuesday's presidential election.

"I checked my phone, saw the results and continued to eat my breakfast," she said. "It didn't faze me. I had tests to study for and a 9 a.m. class to get to."

Green, like many other college students at Morgan State, Towson and Johns Hopkins universities who voted for Harris, was resigned to the possibility of Trump presidency months ago. Unlike college students in 2016, who organized walk-outs and cry-ins to cope with their shock at Donald Trump's first presidential win, this generation of Democratic voters have had their teens and early 20s dominated by Trump politics.

This time, they were determined to continue their days in a "business as usual" fashion.

Students at three Baltimore-area campuses were relaxing outside, laughing and doing homework on Wednesday.

"I was expecting a Trump win for sure," said Julius Torriero, an 18-year-old Towson student. "I could just see it coming, so I still went to class today and stuff."

Torriero voted for Harris, as well as other Democrats down the ballot, like senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks. But the first-time voter said he never thought the vice president would actually win.

"I didn't have much hope, honestly," the Montgomery County native said. "But I still want to keep voting, for sure."

Kahniya Simmons, 19, was another first-time voter with little to no hope that her vote would make a difference.

"I saw it coming," she said, sitting on a bench at Morgan State, working on homework. "Voting is a nice illusion to say your voice is being heard, but I know how these things tend to go."

Her pessimism was fueled by trends on social media she saw, with "young men talking about how they didn't want a female president" like Harris.

Her faith in the American political system wasn't shaken by the election results, Simmons said. She didn't have much in the first place.

"I wouldn't say a Black woman president is impossible, but I do feel like it's a very far reach in terms of where we're at in this country," she said. "This election was going to be what it was going to be, at the end of the day. I'm really not surprised by this, though I would definitely say I'm disappointed."

Simmons had one of her classes canceled on Wednesday morning because of the election results, but most of the students who spoke to the Banner said they still attended their classes and that most of their professors didn't mention the election.

"It's really business as usual around here," said Max Rho, a student at Johns Hopkins University.

Rho was sitting on an Adirondack chair in the middle of a small quad at the university. The 21-year-old didn't vote in the election and was mostly unfazed by the results.

"I knew my vote wasn't going to make much of a difference, and honestly, I didn't feel quite strongly about it," the New York native said. "I did expect Trump to win, though. I think he ran a stronger campaign."

Rho said that his classes were well-attended on Wednesday afternoon, and despite one professor "vaguely mentioning being available to support students," most people he knows haven't talked about it.

Deepti Hagde, a fifth-year Ph.D. student and Indian citizen studying engineering at Johns Hopkins, said she was "shocked" by the results and "really surprised" nobody had been talking about it on campus.

"I'm so confused why nobody seems stressed about this," she said as students walked by, discussing homework. "I haven't gotten anything done today, but all of the American students here seem totally normal."