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January 2009 
DC: Finding My Place in History
Posted on Jan 24th, 2009
by 
Allison
Allison
Inauguration Day!
It has been an amazing experience to travel to our nation’s capitol to be a part of this historic event. From the elated buzz on the flight from Milwaukee to Reagan National Airport, to the incomprehensible mobs of people, to the serene and hopeful moment of hushed silence just before Barack Obama took the oath of office, this has been an experience I will never forget, and try as I might, will never adequately describe.
The crowds were simply overwhelming in size, so often it seemed as though there was no end to the people, and moving in a collective mass quickly became the norm. My experience of this diverse, beautiful mix of people was so friendly, considerate, and united, that I was not at all surprised to hear reported that on Inauguration Day with two million people in attendance, there was not one single arrest made.
On that day, after hours of trying to make it through the crowd that seemed to never end, and through the security check I started to settle in to watch the swearing in ceremony. Standing there behind the reflecting pool at the front of the mall, I turned in attempt to take in the moment, and to survey the crowd. The view of the huge, elated crowd, waving American flags, for as far as the eye could see, with the Washington Monument in the backdrop was a simply breath-taking sight.
As many others in my generation, I have been critical of my government, and have not felt the sense of American patriotism that my parents and grandparents often describe. And at that moment, taking in that view, the simple thought came to mind, we actually did it. And then the tears began to freely flow, overwhelmed at the power of diverse people to come together with hope and optimism in these uncertain times.
And before I knew it, from seeing my tears, complete strangers around me were crying too, and then they were hugging me, and it was the moment that we had all come all that way to experience.
The swearing-in ceremony was moving, the speech by President Barack Obama was powerful and inspiring, and of course Malia and Sasha were undoubtedly the crowd favorites. And then it was over. We were back in the moving mass of people (sometimes not moving much) walking the seven blocks back to my friends’ apartment, which took two hours to navigate with many detours and the slow pace, and it was cold. This wasn’t the most pleasant walking conditions, but it was somehow different. The crowd was more subdued- no chants or song singing, and it was as though we were ready to get on with the business of being America. The energy of anticipation of this big day had been transformed to a deep sense of peace and together as individuals we walked forward as one.
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