Students’ Views

Last Friday, I and almost 20,000 other people, stood on the shores of Town Lake in Austin to gather and watch presidential candidate Barack Obama speak. It was a sea of people, of diverse backgrounds - everyone from mothers with small children to college students sporting their university shirts from all over the state to elderly men and women. It felt much like the Austin City Limits music festival, with an opening band and a step team performance, before Obama came to the stage. The weather was a mess and it rained off and on and people began to make hats out of the Barack for President signs that were passed out to the crowd. With a crowd so large, one might think that it would be difficult to find people you know, but I experienced the opposite - by running into friends from home and several Southwestern students. Another cool thing, and benefit of working at the Capitol, being a state employee allowed me to park only a block away from the event, which was awesome because people were taking buses and coming from all over the city to see the speech.

Obama spoke for almost 40 minutes about ending the war in Iraq, providing a better healthcare system for Americans, continuing aid to Hurricane Katrina victims, and improving both higher and secondary education in the United States. Even Obama seemed amazed by the crowd he drew, and as he came out he commented on how overwhelmed he was by the amount of people and support Austin provided.

My friends Ana, Liza, and I looking a mess at the rally: notice Ana’s use of the sign as protection from the rain. Even with the bad weather, the rally was amazing. You could feel the energy of the crowd as they held up signs and chanted Obama’s name. Although this is cheesy, the entire event made me proud to be a political science major, and I enjoyed getting to see part of the campaign process up close and in action. Even more so, it was great to speak about politics with friends and other students, and it was interesting and eye-opening to realize that perhaps people are not as apathetic as it often seems.

After the rally, I came back to Southwestern and saw the musical production of “Company” performed by Southwestern theater students. “Company” is a musical about a man dealing with being 35 and unmarried while living in New York and the relationships he has with his married friends. I love going to shows at Southwestern because it is always impressive to see how many talented people there are in the theater and fine arts programs here, especially when you see someone everyday and don’t realize that they are actually a well trained singer.

I also found out some exciting news… I’m going to Germany in the fall! I got accepted to my study abroad program, and I will be living in Freiberg, Germany doing a European Union political science/international relations studies program. I’ve begun filling out all the paper work involved, there’s a huge pile of forms of the floor of my room that I need to finish in order to apply for scholarships, housing, and flight information for my trip. I am so nervous, I’ve never been out of the country before, but SO excited and happy that I will be able to have this adventure. My former roommate, Lindsey, wrote me from Mali this week, talking about all of the cultural differences she’s experienced. Hearing her stories (although going to Germany will be very different from what she is witnessing) allows me to both gain knowledge about Malian culture as well as become excited for my own study abroad semester.

Lately I feel like a social butterfly, and there have been so many events, parties, shows, and concerts on campus that it’s almost difficult to keep up with the social and academic schedules. I’m really enjoying this semester, and I’ve been able to become friends with a different group of people by hanging out at Korouva (the student-run coffee shop on campus) and I’m looking forward to more socializing… and I hope that I’m able to balance my class work along with the extra nights of going out.