Campus Engagement: Michelle Obama

On Monday November 5^th, the day before Election Day, I went to go see Michelle Obama speak at a park near Florida Southern College. Along with the First Lady, Ricky Martin, Mayor Buddy Dyer, Senator Bill Nelson and many others spoke. This was a truly inspirational and moving campaign event, because it was so close to Election Day, everyone was extremely excited and passionate about getting President Obama reelected.

            Something that I thought was interesting about this event was that there was a group of teachers and students that came all the way over from London just to follow the last two weeks of the election. The group was called Act Inspired U.S. and they give students from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to work on the 2012 U.S Elections. They had the chance to see Bill Clinton speak and also Governor Romney; the Michelle Obama rally was their last campaign stop before they headed to Washington D.C. after Election Day. I had the chance to speak to a few people from this organization and they were really inspiring how much they wanted to learn about our government and it was also amazing to see how much other countries support President Obama.

            It was also very interesting to hear Ricky Martin speak. We all know him well for his music but we don’t know much about his political activism. He spoke very passionately about his family and how he wants to create a better world for his children and electing President Obama would do just that. Hearing Senator Bill Nelson was also amazing because I had never heard him speak before. The most important thing all the speakers wanted to get across to everyone attending is how important each of our votes are and it is imperative that we all vote and help others to get to their polling stations to vote as well.

          Michelle Obama gave an incredible speech, she spoke about her and President Obama’s family, and how they were successful because they had people in their lives that believed in them. She also stated all the reasons why she loved and believed in her husband, which was so moving it made me tear up. Those of us who support President Obama know all the reasons why we voted for and continue to support him, but for those who were still undecided, she stated that President Obama supports women, our LGBTQ community, education, and many more reasons. Hearing our First Lady Michelle Obama speak was a highlight of this rather stressful campaign season, which seemed to be dominated by negative ad campaigns and constant fighting from both sides. This was a time for us to come together as a country and we did and (thankfully) reelected President Barack Obama.