Undergraduate
Presidential Inauguration Blog
The Presidential Inauguration:
Seeing History in the Making
Through the Eyes of Two Wheelock Students
A Call to Greatness
January 19, 2009 - Maulana
Today is the day we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a National Day of Service. The citizens of this country have been asked to “make a day off, a day on.” I signed up to assemble care packages for the troops in Iraq and to write them thank you cards. Thousands of people came to volunteer at my particular site, and that was a thrill in and of itself. Then, Michelle Obama arrived and participated in the event, as did Jill Biden. Michelle Obama handed supplies to the volunteers that would be assembling the care packages and, as they would pass, she would shake their hands and even give them a hug if they reached out for one. She was as elegant and warm as she always appears to be on television. While I was not fortunate enough to meet her, I counted myself as fortunate just to be able to serve in the room with her.
As the day went on, I saw entire families come in to volunteer: toddlers were seated on tables to help distribute the supplies; young children were seated next to their parents to write messages of thanks to the service men and women. People who had come from all over the country to witness the inauguration had decided to honor the president's request that we honor Dr. King's memory through our service.
When the organizers finally ran out of supplies, 85,000 care packages had been assembled in that single day, and that was 10,000 care packages above the goal for the day. Our team leader informed us that this particular organization typically sent out 150,000 care packages in a year, so in one day we were able assemble more than half of their yearly output! At the end of the day, a servicewoman spoke to us about how much our care and consideration meant to them. Mayor Fenty, who reiterated the importance of service and our civic responsibility to assist and serve, also addressed us; he emphasized the importance of this by referencing Michelle Obama's choice to serve on the eve of what was surely going to be a long but exciting day. The experience was beyond rewarding, and I was honored to have participated in such a noble cause.
As Dr. King once said, "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve..." If one considers this statement true then, perhaps, we can also consider our president's request of us to serve as a call to greatness.
