President-Elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris victory left many feeling excited. After several months of campaigning, Harris will be the first woman, Asian and Black person to serve as vice president.

This historical achievement has impacted women and young girls across the country, Grady students included.

Biden selected the California senator to be his running mate after she was unsuccessful in her run for president in the 2020 election and withdrew her candidacy last December.

Sophomore Haven Li believes Harris will provide representation and an example to women all across America.

“I think that having a woman POC being vice president sets an extremely beneficial example for young women,” Li said. “For thousands and thousands of girls out there, it’s new and eye-opening to have someone who looks like them in such a high position. It presents new opportunities and possibilities for the young women who see Harris elected to be vice president.”

Harris has had a number of firsts in her career. She is the first South Asian senator and second Black female senator. She also served as California’s first Black, Asian American and female attorney general.

Although Harris, holding the office of vice president, will be influential to many on its own, Li hopes that people will look past the shininess of “firsts.”

“Harris’s election and representation of her particular demographic is inspirational to me as a mixed Asian woman, but representation is not the final step in reformation of our country,” Li said. “Just being a Black, Asian woman in her position can’t be considered the most we can do to try and salvage our nation from the damage done by previous White men in office.”

Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, will be able to bring new ideas and her prior experiences as a minority in America, to office. Some hope that a Harris vice presidency will bring her unique perspective to the Biden administration.

“I hope she will offer differing perspectives from Biden on a lot of issues,” junior Audrey Isakov said. “As a man of privilege, he definitely has a different perspective than Harris does, being a victim of systemic racism. I hope that she offers a new perspective that that office hasn’t seen before that can help change some administrative processes and decisions.”

Both of Harris’s parents were civil rights activists to whom she accredits a large portion of her success to. Partridge agrees that Harris’s background should be an aspect she considers when making decisions.

“I hope she takes into account the difficulties she faced as a child and young woman, and obstacles she has come across from being female and being her skin color,” Partridge said. “I hope she can try to lessen those obstacles for other young girls. I know it’s a large task, but she is the first female vice president, and I have high expectations.”

Harris’s victory speech stuck with many. Harris exuded confidence as she spoke and filled her speech with what she will do for America, Partridge said.

“One of the quotes she said that stuck with me was when she said that she may be the first female vice president, but she won’t be the last,” Partridge said. “I thought it was amazing that in her speech she didn’t just talk about herself and her accomplishments, but she also talked about what she hopes she can do for the world.”

While Harris still has to prove herself, many acknowledge the gravity of her accomplishment. The shift in power excites Isakov because of the promise of change from the Trump administration.

“I was ecstatic to learn that Harris and Biden were the vice president and president-elect,” Isakov said. “Not only because of the promise for change, but more so it is a next step for politics and women in this country. We’ve come a long way, but not far enough. It is a step in the right direction.”