By Ryan Thompson

On the day of the inauguration of our 44^th president, while some students and workers around the country stayed home to watch the events on television, a Mandarin High senior, Jacob Briscoe actually attended the events.

Briscoe used to serve as a member of the Nation Youth Leadership Forum, of which he is currently an alumnus. As an alumnus, he was invited to the Presidential Youth Inauguration Conference. Briscoe arrived in Washington, D.C. on the Saturday before the inauguration and didn’t leave until the day after. During the conference he listened to several keynote speakers including politicians such as Colin Powell and Al Gore, as well as entertainers like Josh Lucas.

Briscoe noted that he enjoyed watching “all the great speakers and witnessing history.” He woke up at 4:30 that morning and was allowed to enter the mall at 7:00. Although most of the festivities were over around 12:30, he couldn’t leave until 3:00.

“It was worse than Disney World,” he noted.

Even though the weather seemed bitter cold, Briscoe stayed warm through hand warmers and feet warmers. The cold was the last thing on his mind, as he saw Obama up close, as he was “a football field away.”

Some might feel that the inauguration only took up time from watching their regular schedules programming, but for those like Briscoe, who were able to attend the experience, it was like living through history.