Come 8 o'clock, the announcement came on NBC saying that Barack Obama just became the United States' 44th President. My first reaction was shock. I didn't expect it to come so quickly. As soon as I looked at the electoral votes though, I knew he was in. John McCain's speech was very to my liking and very respectful. It actually made me proud to be an American. I still can't get over that Obama took Virginia, Florida, AND Ohio. That is really something.
So as Brenna and I jumped and screamed and ran out into the hallway, we saw Wyatt (Kappa Pres.) and two of his comrades jumping onto each other's backs and running around screaming, "OBAMA! OBAMA!" We made signs and screamed some more and danced around.
All of a sudden, the sound of conga drums brought us to our windows. We could hear yelling in the distance, along with the steady, rhythmic beat of the conga. I looked at Brenna. She looked at me. We grabbed the keys and the camera and sprinted out of Kappa, down flights of stairs and down more flights of stairs to the beginning of a mob forming. People were lining up on the sculptures by the Communications Facility, screaming at the top of their lungs, "OBAMA! OBAMA!" It was a sight I've never seen in my life.
We caught up to them just as they took of running towards Red Square. We jumped in at the front of the mob and bolted across campus where we gathered by the fountain and continued our chanting. From there, we all ran as a crazy Obama-spurred mob to the Viking Union/Mathes Hall/Nash Hall where we congregated and did some more shouting. After that, we took off down the street, by now at least 500 people in tow.
We made our way, screaming our heads off, past houses and apartments where people greeted, high fived, and even joined our crazy college mob. We ran down the street, photographers popping up everywhere snapping us with their Nikons and their Sonys. We were all delusional with happiness. People were hugging each other, high fiving strangers, hugging strangers, laughing, fists raised into the air as the beginning of a Bellingham winter captured all of us. But the adrenaline was enough alone to keep us warm.
The drum beat went on, as did our chanting, changing from, "OBAMA! OBAMA!" to, "YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!" to, "YES WE DID! YES WE DID!" to, "USA! USA!". Photographers, videographers, and bystanders were literally in awe as we stopped traffic, hastily making our way through the middle of the streets of downtown Bellingham.
November 4, 2008, the day we were all able to witness history. A day, I'm sure, that most of us have felt more alive than ever as we dodged curbs, piles of leaves, stationary and unstationary cars, and the gigantic OBAMA/BIDEN sign that two guys carried between them as we closed in on 9:30 at night. Fireworks erupted more than once.
We proceeded (running and walking) all the way from downtown back up to Red Square where we gathered around the fountain, beating our pots and drums. A video camera seemed to just float through the crowd and we all had our change to yell into it. The atmosphere was indescribable. The patriotism was undeniable. The students of Western Washington University were unretainable. After all, we are all ready for a change.
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