As we enter 2016, one of the major roles in the nation is coming to an end: President Obama’s second term. Although his presidency is still active until January 20th of 2017, people have already began to count down his days in office while others dread to have another candidate step in his place.

“I felt like President Obama brought a new energy into the White House,” Trinity Posey (9) explains, “even though our generation was too young to understand much when he was elected. Now that there’s more of an understanding, he seems to connect with both the younger and older generations.” President Obama spent 8 years in office, as Northern’s high school students are 13-18, he was in office for basically half of our lives. “I’ve watched very little of anything presidentially related, but President Obama seemed to reach out in more of a connecting way because of his personality,” Cameron Migliaccio (9) agreed.

Although others may not be so pleased with President Obama’s terms, some of his work deemed to be not as successful. “Since I work minimum wage, I feel like my checks were taxed a lot. Other than that, it seemed that President Obama spent a lot of money on military,” said Victoria Eby (11). Adding on to outweigh the bad, “He did a decent job serving as our president.”

One of Barack Obama’s addition to the nation was the establishment of ObamaCare, upheld back in 2012. The act turned to have two sides, but the against side stood out more, “I feel like ObamaCare didn’t help as much as he probably thought it would,” said Alex McFarlan (9). “He tried to get something more affordable but it turned to be more expensive.”

Others could disagree on what would be considered an accomplishment and a failure, from passing a health care reform, to being in office when Osama Bin Laden was eliminated, same-sex marriage becoming legal, and finally, improving the economy. President Obama contributed to the nation throughout the past 8 years. He’s leaving it behind for another candidate to either strive in the same direction or in the opposite, regardless Barack Obama has left his mark on the nation.