Grant Park and Random Thoughts!

I know that my blog is supposed to be about my project, but I had an incredible experience a couple of weeks ago and I just had to share. As many of you know my candidate won the presidential election and I was so Happy! But I could not have imagined how crazy my election day was going to be when I got up! Before I left Indianapolis on Monday I was trying to figure out a way to get off my connecting plane on Tuesday night and stay in Chicago for the "potential" acceptance speech, but I thought it was a pipe dream. I was meeting with Michigan State on Tuesday Morning (I had voted three weeks earlier) and was scheduled to fly back to Chicago on my way to Indianapolis at 5:50 PM. In the meantime, Aquinas College had asked me to stop by Grand Rapids while I was in Michigan, so I pushed my flight back to 7:50 PM. As I am in East Lansing I get an e-mail from mt Aunt Sarah and it it is a picture from Grant Park that simply says, "Guess where I am?". I responded with the message, got room in your hotel room for me. She told me she did, but she was concerned about me being able to get in to the hotel because the President-Elect was in her hotel! I decided I have to find a way to do this with out costing my Company ANY extra and without costing me a fortune! I called American Airlines and they wanted nearly $350 to allow me to switch my connecting flight to the next day! I knew I could not justify that expense, but I thought speaking to someone in person is more effective! So I flew to Chicago on my 7:50 PM flight and with the time change I landed at about the same time. I walked through the airport and looked for an American Airlines employee that I thought had a good spirit, I found two people that were the right people. They switched my connection at NO cost! I grabbed a ticket for the Train and headed downtown. I got to my Aunt's hotel and security is everywhere and entertainment tonight is out front trying to catch someone famous. I meet my Aunt Sarah and her co-worker Barry Russell who were both in Chicago for the National Association of College Auxiliary Services. I grabbed a Salad, changed clothes and the only Project Related thing was, I ran the mile and half to Grant Park and made it just in time to hear the beginning of the speech. It was INCREDIBLE! I stood among hundreds of thousands of people in Grant Park and there was so much joy and fellowship that it was Awesome! As a Political Science major that comes from a family that has always been in Politics, I have often been envious of people that have lived in the times of some of the Great Leaders in US history! I have waited most of my life to be inspired by someone! To hear someone that reminded me of Lincoln, or FDR, or JFK or Martin Luther King, Jr. and at that moment I knew I was at that point! The most amazing thing occurred as we all walked out of Grant Park shoulder to shoulder. People chanted his name, and sang the National Anthem together, it was incredible! I promise to blog soon about the Project, but I had to share my incredible experience!