Students attend the inauguration of President Trump

Every political news story, vote counted, and red hat that reads “Make America Great Again” made in the last year has lead to Friday January 20th, 2017, the day that Donald J. Trump will become the President of the free world. The Inauguration has sparked attention from the media of being one of the more controversial Inauguration ceremonies in history with the amount of threats of protesting around the event. Millions of Americans flock to Washington D.C. to see the historic event, and in the masses, stood senior Jake Lance.

“I wanted to attend the Inauguration because of my love for politics and the candidate that I supported won this year. I also figured it would be a great way to be a part of history,” Lance said.

Lance was given the opportunity by getting in touch with Senator Boozman. Boozman gave him his own personal tickets, and Lance had the freedom to roam around D.C during his trip. He is most excited to just be in the atmosphere of the event and to feel the American spirit through all the excited supporters around him.

“I think Trump’s Inauguration is totally unprecedented, because it’s a man with little to no political experience and many believe that he has no right to be there, so it will definitely be one that is written down in history books,” Lance said.

Junior Pablo Manon also went to D.C. to see the Inauguration through a group called Envision. It has a variety of student leader programs, the one Manon attended was called Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit. They have been doing this for the last nine presidential inaugurations to educate students on the peaceful transition of powers and experience a close-up view of our democratic government. Manon signed up for the trip back in September, knowing no matter who won it would be a historic event.

“I am most excited to be able to witness history live, because Trump is by far one of the most special presidents we’ve ever had,” Manon said.

Manon thinks that most Americans and also citizens of other countries are going to be curious to see what Trump says tomorrow, as it is the first glance of the next four years for America.

“I think that a lot of people will have their eyes on what Trump says at the Inauguration, particularly foreign countries that are unsure of their future relationship with America,” Manon said.

Both Lance and Manon agreed that they were nervous about the possibility of protests and violence at the Inauguration. Trump’s election was  controversial and surprising to many Americans, and with that always comes the threat of something going wrong at what should be a peaceful transition of power.  

“Yeah, the possibility of protests does worry me. I’m not worried about the president getting killed or that an attempt will be made on his life, because security is so tight, but I am concerned about crowds of protestors getting violent or ruining the experience for me,” Manon said.

Lance voiced that he hopes that Americans could accept the presidency of Trump and not ruin the Inauguration through violent protesting.

“Well I’d hope that everyone would just have respect and support our new president, because like it or not, you are stuck with him for at least the next four years,” Lance said.

Sophomore Georgia Milhem found that she is divided on whether the protesting is something that is a good or bad thing.

“I see it two ways. In one way people are using their rights and voicing their opinion, which is something that can be done in America, but it also shows our divided our country is,” Milhem said.

Even despite the controversy, Junior Caroline Rhodes finds that watching the Inauguration is important and students should pay attention to the future of the country.

“It is important because it happens once every four years and is history in the making. Besides, Trump is making America Great Again, so of course it is important,” Rhodes said.

Both Manon and Lance agree that the Inauguration is an important event, no matter their personal opinion of Trump, as it is the peaceful transition of the largest power on Earth.

“It’s important because this is the first time you get to see what kind of leader our president is going to be,” Manon said.