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A Witness To History

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By PATRICK HARTMANN

Special to The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 9, 2009

Being a part of history isn't easy. Now, a month after a select few from Riverview High School and I - a 16-year-old college-bound student and aspiring journalist - attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama, I can look back and see that it took work, perseverance and patience to attend this monumental occurrence.

For me, it was an unforgettable experience that I would trade for nothing else.

On the morning of Jan. 20, I was awake at the ungodly hour of 3:30 a.m. Our tour guide had warned our group to be dressed and have eaten by 4:15 and to be on the bus by 4:30 at the latest.

By about 5:30 we were in the District of Columbia. Unfortunately, none of the buses was allowed close to the mall area from the Washington Monument to the Capitol building. So we walked for about a half hour in freezing temperatures until we arrived at the corner of 10th and E Avenue. There we waited in the cold until about 7 a.m., when we were allowed in.

Our tour guide had taken us to the gate where tickets were required for a seat. We had no tickets, so we walked for about an hour until we ended up behind the Washington Monument. Here we found the first wave of the 5,000 Port-O-Potties. For reasons I never knew, we waited within reach of their unpleasant odor for about 30 minutes.

By 8:15 the teacher who organized the trip, Ms. Dawn Rohm, had found us a place. She told us, "This is a really good spot." She was right, because to be any closer would have required tickets.

We could see a television screen, at least 150 yards away, over a sea of people. I do not use this metaphor lightly. It was literally waves upon waves of people, packed shoulder to shoulder and fighting for a better look at a screen that had a good four-second delay.

There we were at 9 a.m., 30 students, aged 15 to 18, huddled together in small groups, more or less on top of each other to keep warm. Nothing happened for the next hour, except that Justin, Liz, Jaclyn, Chelsi, Taylor, Jesse, Alex, Christian and I made a run to one of the several mobile vendors for hot chocolate.

Around 10 a.m. the inauguration events began. We heard music, a welcoming statement, a prayer and more music. Joe Biden was sworn in, a quintet played a beautiful piece, and then the main event: Obama was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, who messed up the words to the oath of office.

At 12:05 p.m., Obama became the first African-American president. We saw him inaugurated and heard his speech, which was quite charismatic; however, any less would have, frankly, been a disappointment.

Then we had to leave, us and 4 million other people. Four. Million. People. On Liberty Street we were literally rubbing shoulders and moving at a snail's pace.

What an amazingly historic experience. We were there, and we'll remember it - all our lives.

Patrick Hartmann lives in Riverview.

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