Obama, Obama, Obama!

I am still in a state of shock.

Just yesterday, I met the President of the United States. Yes, I met the one and only, Barack Obama.

And let me tell you, he really is that good. You’ve heard him during his historic presidential campaign, you’ve heard him campaign this mid-term election season, and you’ve no doubt seen his face splattered across all platforms of media known to man. Heck, he’s even featured on the current issue of Rolling Stone. The man goes beyond the call and duty of President, in my opinion. He’s become the international cultural icon of my generation.

Of course I knew this all along.

I felt it during his heart-felt campaign as a freshman where I remember watching his moving speeches in Dupont 2nd Center, with other close friends, cheering him on. I knew as I stood in line to vote for him in the primaries and then in the November 2008 presidential election my sophomore year. I knew when I walked up and down the National Mall, freezing, on January 20, 2009 for his presidential inauguration. And then junior year, October 2009, while I was studying abroad in Oxford, where I heard he received the Nobel Prize for Peace (which, I’m not going to lie, many people questioned).

And just last week, I went to his residence, where I met Bo — the first family’s Portuguese water dog.

I feel like I’ve somehow completed this long saga by meeting him in real life.

If you’ve ever had an “Is this really happening?” moment in life, I feel you — that’s what was running through my mind as the stage manager counted down for Obama’s live appearance on BET’s set. Time stopped for a fleeting second, and I thought to myself in disbelief, “this can’t be real.” It was insane.

But it was real, and it did happen.  I just have to pinch myself every so often.

So some interesting things about the show: We were all given predetermined seats, and students had no say in whether they got to ask a question or not. That was up to the producers. But that didn’t stop us from all memorizing and rehearsing our questions while we waited.

For the record, this was my question:

Mr. President, a little over a month ago, you “turned the page” in Iraq and have since turned your attention to the war in Afghanistan, which has just entered its ninth year. This war has been compared to Vietnam. Do you believe there is a feasible end to this war — are you still on track for the July 2011 pull-out for troops? But more importantly, how are you planning to convey the message of your war strategy to young voters who are disillusioned with the war on terror?

I had another question on education reform, but I figured foreign policy wouldn’t have been covered as much.

In retrospect, I’m ok that I didn’t  ask a question. The British girl sitting next to me in the waiting room kindly pointed out that I was wearing a tie-dyed shirt and comparing Afghanistan to Vietnam. Yeah, Obama would’ve thought I was a peace hippie, which, I don’t mind, but that was totally not my intention at all. I just wanted to represent the school, and that happened to be the only shirt available. Thanks, Shannon Beydler!

Apparently, the shirt spoke for itself. It grabbed a lot of attention because everyone wore business casual. Oops, I guess I missed that memo. There was a sea of black and grey, and then this bright rainbow-colored shirt. I felt like a clown, but in a good way, if that’s even possible.

I had no idea about how good my seat would be. Truly. They told me B 1-3, and I thought oh, second row. Cool. Well, as it turned out B meant the middle section. I was in the first row, third seat. I was literally front row, and center. I’d have a great view! As it turns out, it also meant that the cameras would constantly pan out and show me on TV enough times for my dear mother, bless her, to take pictures of our TV screen with her cell phone.

The show was well choreographed. The producers had picked students so that there was a broad range of questions, many tied to personal stories. Unfortunately, none of us knew whether we were going to ask a question beforehand. We all had questions prepared, but it was ultimately up to the producers, who knew which students to pick based on our interviews. MTV gave a clear sign they weren’t going to go easy on the President — they opened the dialogue with a young Republican who expressed her disappointment with bipartisanship on health care reform. Watch the show here:

A Conversation with Obama

Interestingly enough, two students from William and Mary (in some capacity) asked questions. Kishor Nagula ’05  asked about race relations, and the other student, Ana Roa, who is currently not enrolled because her immigration status prevents her from receiving any financial aid, gave an emotional response about her greatest fear. She was afraid that she might not make it to see her grandmother before she passes away in her native Colombia because she can’t leave the US while her green card is being approved.

Watching her story made me really hope that someone could reach out and help her come back to W&M. She told me she is currently interning for Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA, 7th District). Roa hopes to come back to W&M during Fall 2011 and graduate one year after her original class of 2011.

Personally meeting Obama was the best part of the entire show for me.  After the first commercial break, Obama shook hands with the students sitting on the floor seats. I was around the tenth person he reached. He was very approachable and smiled with his eyes. I will always remember that. He had a warm, firm handshake. Not only did he shake my hand, but he asked my name, and asked where I was from.

My hand is still numb from that handshake. I’m still processing the enormity of this event, and how much it means to me. Sure living and working in DC — experiencing the “real world,” so to speak, is one thing. But meeting the President of the United States?! I don’t know if anything else will top my time here. It’ll be tough. Very tough.

Definitely a story to tell the grandchildren.

Some of us W&M students who found each other before we went into the studio. The t-shirt brought us together.

Ana Roa shared her greatest fear with the President.