By KIRSTEN CROTTS
For the Reporter
To be in Washington, D.C. for America’s historic inauguration was a remarkable experience punctuated with large crowds, cold weather and memories to last a life time. When our group of National Honors Society students first arrived in D.C. the streets and roadways seemed fairly empty considering the two million people expected to show up. Our tour guide allowed us to explore Smithsonian museums such as the Air and Space Museum and the Holocaust Museum. The Holocaust Museum was educational and emotional; it displayed stories of individual people and showed videos of the devastation after the camps were discovered. At the American Indian Museum we were lucky to witness a Hawaiian ceremonial celebration of Obama in honor of his hailing from Hawaii. This was a once in a lifetime experience for us.
The day of the inauguration I was surprised by the massive amount of groups who had gotten up as early as one am to start making their way to the capitol. While I thought I would be miserable having to walk several miles in the cold, it was actually kind of magical. Surrounded by a sea of people in the dark amid shining red and blue lights from police cars felt more like a fairy tale than a dreary march. Once we arrived at the spot at which we were to stand for the inauguration things were a little rough. People were pushing and shoving each other irritably and the cold wind began to blow more viciously than before. But being able to watch the sun rise over the capitol, to see history being made as Barack Obama was sworn in, and to hear his inspiring words trumped any discomfort undergone while waiting.
“While touring D.C. before the inauguration, you could feel the excitement and anticipation for President Obama,” said Sydney Dawson. “Once the inauguration started, everyone forgot about the cold and standing for hours. We were excited for change in our country.”
Once the inauguration finished it was chaos trying to get back to our bus. Because our group had split off into separate smaller groups we each had to make our own way through the millions of people trying to exit the city. Roads were completely overloaded with people from building to building; we had to push our way through as many people were simply unable to move. When we got back to the bus, we could not get out of the city for a while. Luckily, a church right next to us had opened its doors and was serving up barbecue down in their basement. It was an old community church with black and white photos on the walls of the black community socializing and helping their neighbors – a heritage we got to experience.
Once inaugural events ended and roads and sights were open again we were able to walk around the city to places such as the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and the Reflection Pool. Our group was also lucky enough to have a meeting with Sen. Patty Murray inside the Capitol. We were able to ask her questions regarding her job and politics and then take pictures with her. Afterwards she passed out tickets for us to attend a senate meeting where they were debating the nomination of Hilary Clinton for Secretary of State. Overall, this was one of my favorite events because were able to witness two former presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain and Sen. John Kerry, debate up close.
“My favorite part was going to watch the senate because we got to see our senators in action and because my class is having a mock congress and I am part of the senate,” said Kaitlyn Holt.
We were a part of history. A shared moment in time that we will be telling our children and grandchildren about – the day we saw the first African American sworn into the office of the President of the United States.
Crotts is a student at Tahoma High School. She works on the student newspaper and is a member of National Honor Society. She was part of a group from Tahoma that traveled to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Barack Obama last month.
