Meet our new opinion editor, Megan Salo. This column is an introduction to Salo and her personal views. Every column written by Salo will begin with her name.

If you are an avid Daily reader, you’ve probably read two more personal columns by two of the summer columnists, Julissa Garcia who talks about her race and Kristina Schaffhausen who discusses how being adopted changed her views. The purpose of these columns was to introduce readers to them and the way they look at the world – why they have the opinions they do.

For me, I don’t have any experiences like them that have drastically changed my outlook – I’m white and I’m not adopted. My views are simply a combination of the views I grew up with and ones that I adopted on my own. 

My parents are Republican and very conservative, as was pretty much everyone I grew up around. But when I came to college and was exposed to more liberal views, I kept an open mind to some ideas that my parents don’t agree with. 

I don’t really see myself as a Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. I agree with the opinions of both sides on different issues or prefer a middle ground between the two.

I’m pro life, but I also think that a woman should have the right to end a pregnancy under certain situations (rape, incest) if she wants. I agree with conservatives when they say that abortion is wrong, but I also agree with liberals when they say that the government shouldn’t have a say in what a woman does with her body. 

I am a full supporter of LGBT rights and gay marriage. 

I think that free college tuition is the worst thing that we could possibly do for our economy, but I also think that the fact that college tuition rates are rising because the state has again, cut the higher education budget, is tragic. 

I don’t believe in charter schools or throwing money at the education problem, but instead working to improve public schools.

I don’t like Trump. I think that he ran for president because it was a competition to win, not because he wanted or was qualified to lead a country. I think that he is a liar and a bully. I don’t like Trump.

I don’t like Hillary. I think she is also a liar. I didn’t agree with many of her policies. I liked the fact that she was a woman running for president – that was awesome. I just don’t like Hillary. 

But, I would have supported her if she had won just as I also support Trump as a president because he is our president. I’m not a fan of him, but I’m not saying that he’s “not my president” because if I wished for the president to fail, I’d also be wishing for my country to fail. 

I will use my position in the Daily to write my opinions about Trump all day – and they may not be positive, but you’ll never see me say that he isn’t my president. 

So, my opinion pages will never be entirely conservative or liberal because I’m neither a republican or a democrat.

As my dad suggested: “Fiscally conservative, socially liberal” … most of the time.