Dear Future President:

    Congratulations on winning this major accomplishment! I wish you the best of luck and hope that you do your best to resolve the numerous problems that are in our country.  You know all about our economy, energy, gas prices, and education, so I hope that you really try to fix all of the problems in these areas.  In order to do that, you need to see what the country wants you to do.  That is the purpose of this letter.  I am voicing my opinion to you and hoping that you take it to heart and do what is best.

   This country is known around the world as the "land of opportunity". We have all of those opportunities because we are educated.  There are also many wonderful things that we get to be a part of just because of our education.  Some of those things include being able to go to college, majoring in whatever we want to, and finding a job that not only gives us money, but also makes us happy. At my high school, academics are pushed hard. We still love our sports, but school work is top priority.  All that our principal talks about is making our school the best and raising our national and state test scores. It is my hope that in one and a half years I get accepted into college and receive a great education. I know that right now I have the right GPA and ACT score to do just that, but I know that many of the people in my graduating class will not come graduation.  They have made it through twelve, long years of schooling just to go work at a minimum wage job.  That doesn't seem fair.  I think that anybody who makes it through high school should have the opportunity to go to college.  I realize that some people can't afford it and that even with financial aid and scholarships, some students still won't have enough.  A local community college has finally done something about that--they are letting the entire class of 2009 go to school there and not pay any tuition. I think that this is a wonderful idea.  It allows so many people the opportunity to at least get 2 years worth of a college education for next-to-nothing prices.  Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that every single community college or university in the entire United States should do this.  If schools did something like this for those who are less fortunate and don't have the money to attend college, it would make a huge difference in the number of people who go to college.  Let's face it, here in America many people do attend college and go on to be productive citizens; however, many do not.  They end up being the kind of people who earn minimum wage for a living.  Because they don't earn enough money, these people can't pay for all the things that they need.  When this happens, the government steps in and helps take care of them.  Where do they get the money for this? Our tax dollars. I really don't want to pay for other people because they didn't have the opportunity to go to college and get a good job to support themselves.  That is how this problem comes full circle.  It affects every thing that we deal with on a regular basis.  That is why education is so very, very important and something that everyone needs to take a look at.   

    I believe that this country is a very moralistic country that tries to do what they feel is right. I see no problem in that.  The problem is that many people are trying to force what they believe down other people's throats and trying to get them to believe the same things.  I am a Christian and this country was founded on Christian principals.  Do you think that our forefathers ever believed that one day we would be having gay marriage and that people would be killing babies before they are even born?  I believe that people have the freedom to worship (or not worship) whichever God or gods they so choose.  While I may believe that they are wrong in their worship, I am not going to force them to believe what I believe.  Many of my peers, like me, feel that gay rights is an important issue.  Many think that we shouldn't discriminate against people just because of who they love; and I completely agree.  Nobody deserves to not have their rights for any reason.  However, I do not believe that we should legalize marriages between members of the same sex.  I realize that this country is not totally Christian, but the foundation of it is Christian principals, so shouldn't we at least try to act moralistic.  Personally, I believe that marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman, not a man and a man.  I don't think that our forefathers ever thought of gay marriage when they were drafting our Constitution.  Also, many Americans just don't agree with gay marriage, so this is something to take into consideration.

    One final topic is the economy.  Right now our economy is like a yo-yo. One day it is up, the next day it is down.  Because of this we having some hard times.  Jobs are being lost, people don't have enough money, and all of these banks are closing down.  I have been affected personally by this.  Come December, my dad won't have a job anymore.  The plant where he works is closing down and moving to Mexico.  My dad already has a job lined up, but he is only one of many.  For many workers it is going to be hard for them to find another job.  They all have bills to pay and families to feed and they won't know what to do when they don't have a steady supply of money coming in.  This is a very important problem that I think each candidate needs to have a plan for fixing it.  We need change.  We need something to stabilize our economy first, then we need to look at the problems and determine what needs to be fixed and go fix it.  I hope that whomever wins does whatever is right for our country and helps bring us out of this slump that we are in and make us a prosperous nation again.

     Let me say again congratulations on this fine achievement.  Education, moral issues, and the economy are all issues that I feel are very important.  I ask that you please listen to every person in this world and take their opinion into consideration.  I also hope that you take my very small voice from among the millions that are out there and try to take this nation back to the prominence that it once had.