By Paige Potter–
The cheering of hundreds of people and chanting of “four more years!” as President Obama made his way to stage on Saturday, September 1, 2012, was a feeling I will never forget. Over the past four days, all the Morningside students had seen the preparation taking place for the President to speak, and now it was actually happening.
Arriving at 1:30 on Saturday just to make sure I had a good seat was well worth it. I sat at the top of the bleachers right under the campaign slogan sign reading, “Forward.”
I anxiously sat through the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance, the singing of The National Anthem, the short speech Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack gave, and the introduction of the President given by Rob Hach. As the crowd grew quiet again, everyone’s attention was drawn across the street, to the parade of police and security vehicles. President Obama was here! I never thought I would be waiting to see a current President speak.
As the line of vehicles pulled into the parking lot, the crowd began cheering and clapping. As I caught the first glimpse of Obama, I felt overwhelmed and emotional. Over the past four years, I had heard this man speak numerous times on television. The first time I heard him speak I remember saying to my mom, “He is such a natural speaker.” That is one thing that hasn’t changed about him.
Through President Obama’s speech, I tried paying close attention, simultaneously trying to take everything in. It was hard to give Obama one hundred percent of my attention considering the amount of people in attendance, the media that was there, and the amount of Secret Service agents that I saw in every direction that I looked. I can honestly say that this is an experience I will never forget.
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