Why yes, I did see Obama today : )

People always ask me as a joke if I've seen/ heard the president since coming to DC and I typically just laugh and say no. Looks like Thursday finally changed my answer. 


After spending hours at the economic conference listening to such important yet tiring speakers as Ambassador Ron Kirk and the Deputy Secretary of Commerce, finally it was time for Obama to arrive. It took him a while to get there as it seems the president has the luxury of running on his own schedule, but arrive finally did. During his entrance into the building we were all "requested" to stay in our seats-- the secret service surrounding the press pool gave a bit more of an intenseness to the suggestion-- and finally Obama strolled onto the stage from a side door I couldn't seem to locate. 


Although Sari and I were seated at the very back of an extremely large ballroom we still managed to get pictures (I took the one above) using zoom or the very large projector screens around the room. The first few minutes of his speech seemed to be almost drowned out by the flashes of cameras but soon the madness died down in respect for one of the most highly publicized men in all of America. 

He spoke about his goal to double American exports in the next 5 years- this was expected of course as it was a conference regarding American Exports and Imports. Despite all the hype I gave the event in my mind beforehand it was rather normal feeling. Obama is- no doubt- a great speaker, quite charismatic and very well-spoken; but like every other speaker I've heard this semester, he is only a man. Realizing this did not lessen the impact of the experience though. I'm not sure of the word to describe how I felt, blessed is far to strong, but it definitely made me grateful for this semester. I now have a great story to tell, for I have seen The President and he's just as lanky as he seems.

The day held other fun as well as I was granted white house press credentials and a beautiful media pass (see left) that I just might keep forever. And that leads me to explain my real purpose in attending the event that day- sadly seeing Obama was only a perk- I was not sent to write about the presidential address but rather on a panel of the president's economic advisors who spoke before him. (writing about the president is still a little out of my league, so I'm thankful I wasn't expected to do so). 


So, after the president spoke, Sari and I decided to leave as we had nothing left to cover at the event. We looked around the conference for a bit to see if we were going to be offered lunch- we weren't, darn- and than headed back to the office. By the time we got off the Metro, our stomachs were rumbling and in order to keep our brains working in top shape, we stopped by Corner Bakery to have some lunch before going back up to the office to crank out a decent article. The food was quite delicious, I got roasted poblano pepper corn chowder and a salad. 

At some point the fun had to end. When we finished our food, we took the elevator up to our office and got to work. I thought that once I started on my article it would write itself as it was just a speech article, but it seemed to be a lot harder coming than I expected. In the end, I wrote something I felt I could put my name behind and turned it in. And even though my editor had to add quite a bit of context to the quotes I chose, I feel I contributed enough to claim it as my own. The article got picked up here! This marks the first time that I have produced an article that got edited by my main editor and put out on the wire. That may not translate as success to everyone else, but for me it's a milestone! 

But, producing an article was not the end of my whirlwind day. I rushed home on the Metro, which took longer than normal - I accidentally went the wrong way on the train for the first time in weeks- so that I could go to a panel discussion about powerful women in Journalism. It was an event put on by the National Archives moderated by the famous Cokie Roberts (far right). On the panel were Diane Rehm, popular radio host; Katharine Weymouth, publisher of the Washington Post; and Gwen Ifill, famous political commentator. It was definitely interesting to hear their opinions on the future of a field that seems to be in so much turmoil. 


I expected the event to be informative, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was comedic as well. All of the women had an amazing sense of humor that they shared with us quite frequently over the couple hours they spoke. I had an amazing time, even though I had a headache the whole way through, and I was sad to see the night end. We got out around 9 and by that time my stomach was rumbling. 


I finally got back to my apartment and because it was late I got some dinner, did some laundry and headed to bed. Friday meant class time, individually with WJC and some with ASP as well, we had some great panels on career and vocation and how that works into our lives. I went on a little trip to the bank and got some tea at a local coffee shop on my lunch break, and after classes were over I went out to Ebenezers for Friday coffee with Terry, Greg and the gang. 


From there Amy and I took a trip down to Chinatown to explore. We were planning on getting some b-b-q, but chickened out when it was busy due to the hockey game at the Verizon center. We ended up going to the staple restaurant  of McDonalds and then out for Frozen yogurt at a wonderful place called  TangySweet - I had a giftcard that Greg had given me for helping him and his wife Mimi move at the beginning of the semester that I just HAD to use :)  We had a lot of fun just walking around and chatting about life, Journalism, and our futures for a couple hours. Browsing the Barnes and Noble at Union station topped off a great day, and even the walk back to the apartment wasn't too bad, rain and all. 


After that, Amy and I headed to the Green house just to chill and watch a girly movie, we chose Must Love Dogs, so cute! We also managed to get in half of You've Got Mail before practically falling asleep. We packed up, and headed back to the Dellenback where we could sleep for real. Needless to say I ended up going to bed tired that night as well, being busy is fun but definitely exhausting. I'm going to write about my Saturday adventures tomorrow because they were plentiful and have plenty of pictures to accompany them. Look out for that later! I would do it now, but I'm exhausted again from said adventures :)