Jamie Hilao

5 more days, and I will finally be in Europe for the experience of a lifetime.

What a week this has been: from work transitions to packing to fellowship reading to endless ‘things to do’ lists, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and sleep-deprived.

But, it’s all worth it: very soon, I will begin the journey that I believe could change my life.

And…

What a way to end my last week prior to my European adventure… I attended the Obama fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton, his first since the election.

Referred by Generation Obama LA, my friend and I had fantastic seats. Jennifer Hudson and Earth, Wind and Fire rocked the house prior to the President’s speech. Throughout the performances it was evident the crowd was anxious for Obama to appear, and pandemonium erupted as Obama stepped onto the stage. He joked about the Lakers vs. the Bulls, plugged his nomination for Sotomayor, commented on how proud he was of his administration’s first 100 days in office, and remarked about the challenges that lie ahead.

I didn’t get to shake his hand, but the activist energy in the room was contagious, and I left feeling inspired to help in whatever way I can.

The photos and video I shot from my 7.2 megapixel camera may be grainy, but they’re wonderful mementos of the occasion.

I’ve decided to post a separate blog for my Marshall Fellowship adventures in Europe, but I will be writing about my post-fellowship experiences and uploading photos after my trip.

For now… Salukes, Tchau, Adiós, Dogledanje, A di o!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 2:31 am and is filed under Jamie, Politics, travel, MMF. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.