The 2016 presidential election has been a surprising one. In many ways, I am disappointed in the way it has turned out, as I was a strong Sanders supporter throughout the primaries. When Hillary Clinton became the democratic nomination, I knew I would vote for her, but I didn’t think I would be as passionate of a supporter. Now, that is not the case.

I am a strong Hillary Clinton supporter for many reasons. Hillary has spent her entire adult life working to make America a better place for everyone, and I truly mean everyone. Through her work as First Lady, a Senator, and Secretary of State, Clinton has been a voice for women, a fighter for equal rights, a supporter of children, and much more. She has been a prominent name in politics for many years, which has both helped and hurt her presidential campaigns.

As a part of her candidacy, Clinton has proposed several policies, changes, and ideas in an effort to inspire voters, bring democrats together and improve America. These have been eloquently delivered throughout several campaign events, advertisements, and on her website hillaryclinton.com.

The US economy has been a major talking point by both presidential candidates. Donald Trump has consistently brought up how we are losing jobs overseas in many of his speeches and events. However, this sentiment seems over dramatic when you look at the facts. CNBC reported that since 2010 and the great recession, “the U.S. economy has produced more than 14 million jobs.” This was done under President Barack Obama, who proudly supports Hillary Clinton.

Clinton’s propositions for the US economy as written on her website include raising taxes on the extremely wealthy, lowering taxes for small businesses, ending corporate and Wall Street tax “loopholes”, providing tax relief to the middle class, and making investments into the US economy.

In addition to wanting to continue aiding in US economic growth, Clinton has also proposed cutting student debt and lowering the price of a college education. This is a topic extremely relevant to students like us across the nation, and has been supported by Bernie Sanders. Also, Hillary has proposed the preservation and improvement of Social Security and Medicare, and wants to improve the current Affordable Care Act in order to be more beneficial to all.

Other areas with proposed changes from hillaryclinton.com include raising the minimum wage, using clean energy and combating climate change, protecting women’s reproductive rights, improving US education systems, and much, much more.

While Hillary and her team have worked hard to propose realistic, relevant changes for all Americans, no matter their race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, to benefit from, many remain unable to look past the scandals of her past. Secretary Clinton has made some mistakes, I am not here to justify them. However, she has also gone through thorough investigation, scrutiny, and time in court and on the stand in response to these. And, most importantly, she has publicly apologized for these mistakes.

In addition, a prominent source of attack towards Hillary Clinton is still her husband’s infidelity and the way she has handled it. She has faced scrutiny for both her and her husbands actions in these situations for decades. However, these attacks of her personal life have not stopped her in furthering her career in public service. Above all, Hillary Clinton’s personal life, or the actions of her husband, in no way dictate how qualified she is to do the job of being president or how hard she will try to make America a better place. The two are unrelated.

I find it frustrating that people tend to compare voting for Clinton or Trump as “choosing the lesser of two evils.” Donald Trump actively insults minorities, religions, women, prominent leaders throughout history, and many americans. He fails to bring together the country, let alone even unite his own party. What will it say of our great nation if we elect a president that says such horrible things about so many groups of people? How can we trust him handle foreign affairs in a calm, reasonable manner? How can we say he will “make America great again” if he has no prior qualifications in working to do so?

Hillary Rodham Clinton has made mistakes, owned up to them, and continues to inspire citizens across the country and remind them that they matter, and that she is here to help them. She is an inspiring, overqualified, strong and capable presidential candidate, and one that proudly has my vote.

Read more about Hillary Clinton and her policies and propositions at hillaryclinton.com