On Thursday, February 3, 2011, I believe that one of the greatest moments in my life occurred. As the Penn State Student Body President, I have been blessed with many great opportunities, but this opportunity was a great way to begin to close out my term as president and as a student at Penn State.
So it all started two weeks prior to President Obama’s visit to campus when I received an email from the White House. Specifically, the Director of Public Engagement Kalpen Modi. Mr. Modi wanted to meet with me and a couple of other student leaders the same day the President came to campus (but this was before we knew he was coming). We were going to discuss energy on campus, activism, and overall innovation. Even though that was the agenda, the only issue I wanted to speak with the White House about was the rising cost of tuition in public schools across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the entire country.
Now, it was not until we received word that President Obama was coming to campus that I realized why the name Kalpen Modi sounded familiar to me. Kalpen Modi is the actor/comedian who played Kumar in the movie Harold and Kumar. So I knew that this would be an awesome experience because I was going to be meeting with Kalpen Modi and talking about student related issues.
The big day finally came and the campus was overflowing with excitement and anxiety to see the President. I met with Kalpen Modi first for about 90 minutes in a small room in Rec Hall, directly behind where the President was going to be giving his speech later. We talked about a lot things, but I focused on engaging Kalpen in conversation about tuition and the President’s efforts to help this situation. He made a lot great points and vowed to keep us updated. The meeting was just about over and I could hear people getting restless in the gym waiting for the President. All of a sudden, the doors in the small room where I was located swung open and in walked President Barack Obama, very casually, like we were a group of his advisers. My immediate reaction was to get out my iPhone and begin to take pictures. But then I realized that the photographers probably had that covered, so I let them do that for me.
President Obama spoke and took pictures with each of us individually. It was such a great feeling to shake hands with him, make eye contact, and tell him about my job as the student body president. After the the formal introductions, we sat down and the President told us that he was proud of our leadership. He pretty much gave a pre-speech to what he was going to say later – explaining why he came to Penn State. We talked about energy, the importance of innovation, and how Penn State could take the lead in those areas.
Overall, this was one the biggest highlights of my life and I will never forget it. I am just glad that I was able to represent the student body and my college, the College of the Liberal Arts, in the best possible way.