Richmond students reflect on their trips to the inauguration of President Barack Obama

The following article contains four students testimonials from the inaguration of Barack Obama

CLAIRE LELIEVRE

WASHINGTON - I just came back from the Inauguration Day ... one hour ago ... and my feet are still freezing ... but it was worth it!! My roommate and I woke up at 4:15! Took the subway at 5:15! Arrived at federal triangle at 7am! Crossed the security point at 10 a.m.! Took position just behind the fences on Pennsylvania Avenue! First excitation around 11 a.m. when we saw Bush and Obama in their limo, going to the Capitol! Hearing Obama's speech at 12:10! And saw the parade at 3:45 p.m.! It probably seems like a lot of hours waiting in the cold (and it was!!) but everyone was so excited about this historical event that we were sometimes forgetting about cold and waiting!

People were singing, dancing and speaking to each other in a friendly atmosphere! Then the euphoria broke out around 4 p.m. when Obama and Michelle appeared on Pennsylvania Avenue! Standing just behind the fences, we were so lucky because they got out of their limo two blocks before arriving in front of us, and got back into the car one block after greeting the crowd!! They were amazing!! A modern, charismatic and hopeful couple! As an exchange student from France, I am proud to be a witness of this historic event and to be part of American history. I can't wait to tell all about this day to my family and friends in France ... I know some of them are already jealous.

Carl "C.J." Tate

I was at the Inauguration today - bird's-eye view to history. I was overwhelmed by the overflow of emotion, the hope in people's eyes that Barack Obama would cure our nation's ills. Although the temperature barely hovered above freezing, I still was able to feel the warmth of the crowd's enthusiasm. The word of the day was "unity" and that theme was only broken once -- when members of the crowd booed and hailed catcalls on former President Bush as he walked out to "Hail to Chief" one last time. It was a sad display from a crowd that clearly drew inspiration from a new president who held out the hope of bringing Americans together, regardless of party affiliation.

As I stood in the crowd, the purple section, I was struck by the thought that it was a mere generation ago that men and women of color were being denied their right to vote, that it was 30 to 40 years ago that blacks were being physically dragged out of restaurants, hotels and busses all because of the color of their skin. it was fifty years ago that a little black boy was brutally murdered for the mere act of whistling at a woman with white skin - and I was proud of how this great nation managed, on this day, to wipe those stains away. Now we can finally look to fulfilling the deferred dream that Dr. King had. Maybe we can begin to look past the color of man's skin and judge him on the content of his character. That's my audacious hope, my wish for this still young and maturing country.

So today, there were no Republicans or Democrats, no blacks or whites, just a throng of proud Americans. Two hundred plus years after our founding, one seemingly insurmountable barrier has been overcome.

Former President Reagan called us "the blessed, the last best hope for the human race" and I like to think that today that became a little more true.

God bless America.

Nick Mider

Thanks to my mother and the many people she knows in the legal world, I got a ticket to the inauguration. But when I arrived in Washington and learned that she had a really good seat (and I stress the word seat) and I only had a general admission ticket, I decided I would explore the National Mall that stretches from the U.S. Capitol past the Washington Monument to Constitution Gardens and the Lincoln Memorial. Though this decision would end up biting me in the ass (I'll get to that later), it was truly rewarding to walk among the millions who attended the event and meet some of these people with extraordinary backgrounds and stories.

As soon as I knew I would be attending the inauguration, I wasn't as intrigued with the actual event as I was with the people (an estimated 1.5 million at the time) that were expected to attend. Why were all these people coming? Why couldn't they just watch it on TV? I was amazed with them just as I am always amazed by people who come to Times Square and sit in sub-zero weather to watch a ball drop. I couldn't figure out why so many were making this pilgrimage to Washington.

And then I heard Obama speak and heard others talking about him, and I was absolutely mesmerized. I mean, wow. It is truly special to hear this man speak. Regardless of your opinion of Barack Obama, what can't be denied is that he is one of the great orators (perhaps even the best of our time). Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy - he is already grouped with these great Americans and he hasn't spent a day in the White House. Being in this man's presence, hearing him speak, it's like being at a rock concert.

"Has there ever been such a brilliant, intellectual man that is also so cool and so down to earth?" a man from Connecticut asked me.

"Every time I see him, I get butterflies," one woman told me. She and her friends took a bus from Milan, Ga. - which I had to look up on a map - to hear him speak.

"He is a uniter, and he truly wants to mend bridges with his political opponents and supposed enemies of the Western world," Moussa Mbanckou said. He and his wife, Marie, came from Paris to attend the inauguration.

"A historic event like this won't occur for at least another 20 years in France. My prediction, 40 years."

Not only did the inauguration feel like a concert, the city atmosphere was like the Super Bowl. On every street, Obama merchandise and memorabilia was being sold, people were chanting his name, booing the old administration and in Dupont Circle, people got to throw shoes at a large inflatable version of George W. Bush.

Although I only know about the 1960s from textbooks and my friend's hippy father that constantly talks about the "love years" and his Volkswagen bus, those two days in Washington were strikingly similar to the 1960s.

But unlike the 1960s, which ultimately ended in Nixon's 1972 re-election (and as Hunter S. Thompson said, "when the wave finally broke"), there was a sense of victory and accomplishment. All of the hard work put in by the young, old, black and white volunteers had finally paid off. In every direction I looked, from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, there were crowds of people, crammed shoulder to shoulder. Here they all stood, standing in freezing, windy weather, peering through heads, climbing up barricades and standing on their tiptoes just to get a glimpse of this man on the JumboTron. Never have I seen so many people, staring so intently and passionately and so enthralled by one man's presence.

And then there was the exit. In short, it took me two hours to exit the end of the Mall, a distance equivalent to about half a block. Try to imagine about 100,000 people, more people than in many towns, attempting to exit a single space of about 400 feet. I am shocked no one was trampled. We, the blob of people following whoever was in front, wandered in every direction, lead on in a different one each time someone spoke to security or personnel. On multiple occasions, I saw people fall and get stepped on. With all the pushing and bumping and frustration of not being able to get out, this was one of the few moments of the day that was not pleasant. Did I mention it was impossible to make a phone call? When I finally made it to 18th Street and Constitution Avenue, it took me another hour to walk no more than five or six blocks.

The first highlight of my day was hearing Dr. Rick Warren, who gave the invocation, try to say Obama's daughters' names. The other highlight was watching the parade from the 12th floor in a building that looked down on the corner of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. It was at this corner that Barack and Michelle reemerged from their limousine.

Though I have never before seen an inauguration in its entirety, this day did not feel like a normal inauguration. It was a good time, a party of sorts. There were people on the streets, dancing, singing and playing music. There was a great vibe but also an incredible sense that we were part of something so significant in our nation's history. And that is the reason people came from such great distances. This is something that everyone who attended will tell people for the rest of their lives.

Everyone was happy. This country is a mess and there is no doubt that our new president has a lot to deal with. But I like to think that today was a break, a complete pause for everyone, and a sigh of relief and a breath of fresh air. Tomorrow, this country enters a completely new chapter in its history.

Julie Stevenson

WASHINGTON - Myself (Julie Stevenson), Kristen Jobes, Mike Olson, Aleena Sorathia, and Jason Viglianti drove up to Crystal City, which is where the Pentagon is, on Monday night. We left Richmond at 10 p.m. after everyone was finished with classes and arrived there at 12:30 a.m. It was an extremely smooth ride but we were glad we did it then because at 3 a.m. a lot of the highways were to be closed down. We stayed with Mike's brother who graduated from George Washington University the previous spring.

We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and the five of us from Richmond plus Mike's brother and four friends were out the door at 6:45 a.m. with packed lunches and numerous layers of clothing on. We walked into Washington D.C. because we knew all the roads going into the city were closed down. It was about a three-mile walk to Independence Mall from where we were staying and we arrived there at 8 a.m. There were plenty of people there already (as you may have seen on the news, the people were filing in well before the sun was up) but it really wasn't that crowded. We maneuvered our way as close as we could until we hit a roadblock of people. We were probably halfway between the Capitol building and the National Monument. There was a JumboTron 100 feet or so in front of us playing the concert from Sunday night on the mall to amuse people as they waited four hours until the inauguration started. My friends and I passed the time by playing word games or trying to get on camera. The CNN camera was to our right so it would often pan over our heads and we actually got on TV a few times.

The JumboTron showed the people filing into the seated section including diplomats, Senators and past presidents. When former President Bush walked through it was surprising but refreshing to hear people clapping, not that much, but at least it was louder than the booing. No matter what kind of president he was, it was the last few minutes he had as president, he should be able to enjoy them in content. The inauguration started and Aretha Franklin sang a song. I thought she was a great singer to choose because she sings the song "Respect" and I feel like this is a time that everyone needs to remember to respect each other as we try to bring the country together politically, economically and socially. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable John Paul Stevens, then swore in Vice President Jospeh R. Biden. The smile on his face after his swearing reassured everyone this was the start of a great thing. Then came time for the President-Elect's swearing in. The Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr., started the swearing in but Obama messed up the first line. It was funny, and everyone laughed but not because they were laughing at him as much as they were laughing with him. It made me think, "See he is a real human being just like the rest of us, who isn't perfect and will get things wrong but has a great head on his shoulders that is going to lead our country to change." After his swearing in, I was waiting for his smile that can light up the world. It didn't come until after the entire ceremony, but when it did, it was official, Barack Obama is our new President of the United States.

We left the Mall the same time the suspected 1.5 to 5 million other people did and we got exactly what we should have expected: walking traffic.

There was confusion about which way everyone was supposed to go so the police were blocking off roads that probably should not have been blocked off.

The outcome was people squished so close together you were no longer moving, the wave of people was moving you. An ambulance had to get through and it couldn't even get through because the people had nowhere to go. Eventually we broke through and walked the three miles home. The city was still shut down so all you saw for miles was people walking. It reminded me somewhat of "I Am Legend," but not gory. We got back to the apartment and had hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up. Then we all passed out instead of watching the parade.

We left at 6:45 p.m. for Richmond, just before they opened the roads in D.C. again at 7 p.m. We didn't hit any traffic back so it was great. Overall it was an amazing day, especially because IT WAS MY 20th BIRTHDAY. Quite a birthday party celebrating with 1.5 to 5 million people our new President Barack Obama, probably one of the best birthday present ever.