Today, I had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing the President of the United States in person! The best part is I didn’t even have to leave my school to see him.

President Obama paid a visit to Reynolds Coliseum to promote his American Jobs Act legislation. Tickets were pretty hard to come by as you can imagine. N.C. State reportedly had about 2,000 student tickets available. Students – including myself – lined up early to get a ticket to the event. Some even camped out from Monday night to Tuesday morning to get tickets. I didn’t camp out but I got there a good 2 hours before the ticket distribution began and, let me tell you, the line was crazy. In fact, they had 2 lines going and each one stretched as far as you could see.

While we waited outside Reynolds Coliseum to get in, I was fascinated by all the things happening around me. Tons of Secret Service, police and event staff running back and forth, bomb sniffing dogs that even had to check out an ambulance. I also got to speak with a campaign advisor briefly who, while talking to me and some people behind me in line, had to answer her phone. Why am I telling you this? Well, what she said next was amazing. She said “Yes, Mr. President?” What?!? That’s crazy that the POTUS called her on her phone and talked to her. Just imagine if you had that privilege!

The speech in Reynolds was great. I was sitting in the upper section but only 5 rows up so I had a great view of President Obama. I still can’t believe I got the opportunity to see him in person! It’s a memory I will always have for the rest of my life!