H&SS News

Students Joe Frick (HS'13) and Lexus Beaman (HS'12) are excited to hear President Obama's speech at CMU on June 24, 2011.

Photo by Guillermo Gomez

June 2011

Once in a Lifetime: H&SS Senior Reacts To Attending President Obama's Speech at CMU

On Friday, June 24, 2011, President Barack Obama visited Carnegie Mellon University to launch a major manufacturing initiative. President Obama spoke to an audience at CMU's National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), and included in the audience was ecstatic H&SS senior Lexus Beaman, a psychology major. Here are her thoughts on this once in a lifetime experience.

The moment the other student volunteers and I heard we were going to be able to see President Obama speak, you could hear our silent cheers. We had been told there was no guarantee we would see him speak so this was the piece of news we had been waiting for. We were seated in the very last row, but since it was such a small affair, there were no bad seats. The longer we waited for the President to emerge from the back and take his place at the podium, the more and more anxious I became. I was about to be one of only 200 people to see the President of the United States speak that day. My camera was ready as I was prepared to document this momentous occasion (momentous in my life at least). When the President finally took his place at the podium and the roars from the crowd subsided, my heart was pounding harder than ever. I could not believe what was going on in front of me. I was listening to the President of my beloved country praise my university, telling prospective students that Carnegie Mellon University was a “terrific place."

Before I knew it, President Obama’s speech was over and audience members were hustling towards the front for a chance to get a closer look at their President. For the lucky few who were at the front, they were given the opportunity to shake hands and meet President Obama. Joe Frick, a junior economics major and fellow volunteer, looked at me and said, “Let’s go.” I followed him and we hurried up to the front. Erica Fuchs, assistant professor of engineering and public policy, helped Joe and I make our way to the barrier separating the podium area from the audience. Professor Fuchs thought it was important for the President to meet Carnegie Mellon students since the students are what make this university, in President Obama’s terms, “terrific." Before long, Professor Fuchs was introducing Joe and I to the President of the United States. He graciously shook our hands, looked us straight in the eye, and said, “It’s nice to meet you.” He said it with such sincerity that you genuinely believed he was grateful to meet you. As Joe and I walked away, I could not believe what just happened. I had just shaken the hand of one of the most powerful people in the world. For me, that entire morning was truly a once in a lifetime experience. To some, it was just another summer day in Pittsburgh.

For more information on President Barack Obama's visit to Carnegie Mellon University, visit http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/society/2011/summer/presidents-visit.shtml.

Stay connected with Carnegie Mellon's College of Humanities and Social Sciences on Twitter and Facebook.

Other sources of Carnegie Mellon news include the university news service website and the Carnegie Mellon Today magazine.

Contact Shilo Raube, Director of Public Relations at sraube@andrew.cmu.edu or (412) 268-6094.

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