Inauguration Day
The meat of the inauguration conveniently coincided with our 11 a.m. campus-wide lunch break, so our co-curricular activities coordinator arranged to have the coverage broadcast on the big screen in our gallery. The library is right across the hall, and when I came in to work (Tuesday is my late day) at 10:55, there was already a good-sized group of students gathered.
I, of course, had to stay in the library during the festivities (someone might steal a textbook if I dare venture past the doorway), so I pulled up a live feed on one of the news websites and huddled by my speakers, just in time for the oath of office. As Obama repeated "So help me God," there was a huge cheer from the gallery. The student at the table next to my desk jumped up, handed back his book and headed for the door, asking, "Is it time for him to speak?"
I watched the inaugural address almost uninterrupted, save for one oblivious student who needed her hand held while she printed. I had tears in my eyes by the end. I don't know if it will go down in history as the best political speech, but it was exactly what I needed to hear.
Later that afternoon one of the sophomores, who usually comes off as sweet but a tad self-absorbed, came in and stopped to chat. She was beaming. "This was the first politician I ever wanted to vote for," she told me. "And the best part is that it was people like me, my age, that elected him. There have been too many old, white men making decisions for us."
I think that conversation, and that cheer from the gallery, made the day for me. I'm excited that my candidate won, but I would have voted anyway. The fact that so many of our sheltered, often unaware suburban students felt that kind of excitement about a political candidate makes me believe that yesterday marked much more than just a changing of the guard.
I, of course, had to stay in the library during the festivities (someone might steal a textbook if I dare venture past the doorway), so I pulled up a live feed on one of the news websites and huddled by my speakers, just in time for the oath of office. As Obama repeated "So help me God," there was a huge cheer from the gallery. The student at the table next to my desk jumped up, handed back his book and headed for the door, asking, "Is it time for him to speak?"
I watched the inaugural address almost uninterrupted, save for one oblivious student who needed her hand held while she printed. I had tears in my eyes by the end. I don't know if it will go down in history as the best political speech, but it was exactly what I needed to hear.
Later that afternoon one of the sophomores, who usually comes off as sweet but a tad self-absorbed, came in and stopped to chat. She was beaming. "This was the first politician I ever wanted to vote for," she told me. "And the best part is that it was people like me, my age, that elected him. There have been too many old, white men making decisions for us."
I think that conversation, and that cheer from the gallery, made the day for me. I'm excited that my candidate won, but I would have voted anyway. The fact that so many of our sheltered, often unaware suburban students felt that kind of excitement about a political candidate makes me believe that yesterday marked much more than just a changing of the guard.
posted by Madame Defarge at 4:36 PM
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