Long story short...I support you, President-Elect Obama!

Many people have been asking me what it was like to be in DC during the elections. Well...let me share my experience, thoughts, and feelings about living in our nation's capital during such a "historic" event.

1. LONG-WINDED! I LOVE to talk politics as much as the next guy, but near the end I couldn't wait for it to be OVER! But...is there anything else worth talking about?

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

2. It brought out the worst in people. While in Utah I felt like people hated Obama. Being here in DC I have felt an INTENSE hatred towards McCain and Bush and pretty much ALL Republicans. Let's just say that I usually kept my mouth SHUT and kept my opinions and feelings to myself out of fear of being attacked.

3. People fulfilled their civic duty and VOTED. On my way home from work I was riding the METRO and almost everyone had a "I VOTED TODAY" sticker on their jacket. Sounds stupid, but I was proud of them, no matter who they may have voted for.

4. McCain should have acted that way during his ENTIRE campaign. I was really impressed with John McCain's concession speech. I felt he was really gracious and respectful towards Barack Obama. I personally got the feeling like he was sincere while saying he wanted to move on and work with Obama to help our country. Too bad he didn't act like that since day 1 of campaigning; the outcome may have been different.

5. It got kids thinking about our country and it's government. I teach 9th grade at a high school in Georgetown. They cared SO MUCH about this election. They may not have had the greatest reasons for why they supported one candidate (Obama), but at least they were following the race and talking about it and how it may affect their future. The day after the election my kids were ECSTATIC, to say the least. Because I knew that day meant so much to them we had a discussion and talked about how they felt when they realized Obama would be our next president. Some of them were respectful towards John McCain and said they enjoyed his speech and, like me, felt that he was sincere. I was disappointed in some of my students who still found falt in McCain; saying he was fake and a sore loser. To those students I referred them to Barack Obama's speech. I reminded them that even Obama was respectful towards McCain, and that he, like McCain, wanted to work together to help our country. We then talked about Obama's speech. They compared it to Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech. Hmmmm...not sure I would compare them; however, I did think it was a great speech. I then had the students do a free-write assignment. They were to write about how they felt when they found out Obama would be our next president AND how this election has made an impact in their life. I have never seen my kids more excited about writing. Some of the students shared their thoughts with the class...

One student described the "Robin Hood" (steal from the rich...give to the poor) tax plan Obama has planned:

Obama has influenced me in the fact that I now can get more money. In detail I realized that there will be no more rich people because the more you make the more taxes which goes to help those who have no money.

Another student wrote the following poem:

Remember how MLK said he had a dream?
And Malcolm X said we can make it as a team?
Tuesday we made a dream come true
Not just for MLK, but for me and you
The dream has shown that dreams come true
And it takes team work from me and you
To show that we can all make a change
If we take credit for ourselves instead of trying to share the blame
Now you got to understand you can make life better
Young or old, we can do it together
See the people all over the world
We can make it better every boy and girl
First we gotta learn to give and then receive
That then is the only time we can succeed

Impressive.

6. I've never felt more like a minority. DC is roughly 95% democrat and my school's population is about 90% black. I'm a white republican. I stand out like a sore thumb. And, again, I learned how to keep my mouth shut.

All in all, I am grateful that I was able to be here in DC during such an important event. I'm sure I would have had a COMPLETELY different experience had I stayed in Utah to do my student teaching. Sometimes it was hard to be the one who was different. To be the one that thought differently from everyone around. But it was fun at the same time. It was interesting to actually get African-Americans' view on the whole thing. I learned to be more open-minded, especially after seeing how close-minded many of the people here are.

Anyway, GOOD LUCK, President-Elect Obama! I support you and sincerely hope you can bring CHANGE to America!