Best day ever!!!

Aside from the lack of sleep and exhaustion, today was the best day of this entire trip!!! As stated yesterday, we began our day with a breakfast provided by the Georgia Delegation; just when we tought things had gotten predictable, we got a huge surprise. Reverend Jesse Jackson walked through the doors, stopping by our table to greet us. My Roommate Gillian and I were fortunate enough to get a shoulder tap from him; sounds crazy but that right there woke us up!! Chairman Mike Berlon then made the day's schedule announcements and introduced the Reverend to the delegation. His speech was extremely uplifting, bringing a message of hope, change, and perseverance in the face of adversity. Afterwards, the delegates were given a brief recess before the arrival of the next speaker. My classmates and I also took advantage of that time to get some more surveys completed for our projects. We were fearful that the delegates would be resistant to filling out the surveys due to fatigue or annoyance from the previous day's work; but it was the opposite. Not only did they participate, but they were encouraging others to do the same. Afterwards, we proceeded towards the convention center to take part in more caucus meetings. To our surprise, we found out that First Lady Michelle Obama had spoken at the Women's caucus!! And we missed it! To make matters worse, 2nd Lady Jill Biden was scheduled to speak at the Youth caucus, but the security around the ballrooms was so intense we couldn't get in. Gillian an I were unwilling to give up, and after 30+ minutes of waiting, we were finally allowed to enter; this time we did see who we had come to see. Jill Biden made a brief appearance from the center of the room, allowing us to take pictures with her. After the caucus meeting ended, we took a lunch break, then regrouped and decided to head back and get ready for our next event. As we passed the local Panera Bread ... We saw CNN news anchor Erin Burnette! She was generous enough to let us take a few pictures with her. Little did we know that a bigger surprise was awaiting us further down the road; keynote speaker Julian Castro right there in front of us I was so shocked!! And exited at the same time! We couldn't contain the excitement and we off course asked for a picture. Afterwards, he thanked us for our participation at the convention, and encouraged us to stay involved. I still can't believe that we were so fortunate to be at the right place at the right time to meet all these wonderfully people! Later in the afternoon, we got the opportunity to go to Winthrop University and engage in various discussions with a few students as well as some British foreign exchange students. The topics Ranged from foreign policy, to the correct British pronunciation of Harry Potter. Around 10 o clock we decided to end our trip, and rush back to the
rooms in order to hear Bill Clinton speak. This pretty much sums up this day. Had a blast today and I look forward to doing so again tomorrow !