Presidential Party

Presidential Party

Blaine Nolan '10 and Lauren Kominkiewicz '10 at
President Obama's Inauguration
If you were in Washington D.C. on January 20th, you were in the place to be. That’s exactly where junior Blaine Nolan was. “It was incredible. I have never felt such excitement,” says Nolan of attending the Inauguration of the nation’s 44th president, Barack Obama.

The political science major was already in D.C., spending the spring semester attending American University three days a week and interning two days a week for South Bend congressman Joe Donnelly. “I’m in the American politics semester where we just focus on issues within our own government,” explains Nolan.

Nolan says she received tickets as a reward for work done during the campaign. She currently is the president of the College Democrats at Saint Mary’s, and she is a member of both the political science and psychology clubs. Her career plans include attending graduate school for public policy, and then moving to Washington, D.C. where she hopes to work on Capital Hill.

For now though, Nolan has the role of witness to history. Taking full advantage of the celebrations surrounding the Inauguration, Nolan also attended the Presidential Inaugural Parade, and the “We Are One” concert held the previous Sunday. She says the best part of viewing the Inauguration was, “Seeing the excitement on peoples faces and knowing that people really are happy and inspired by this wonderful man.”

In spite of the frigid temperatures she persevered and was inspired by President Obama’s speech. “He was such a great speaker and I was deeply touched by his words,” says Nolan. "I cannot wait for his next four years.”