A few weeks ago, I was able to attend the Beto O’Rourke meet and greet at the HUB.  He had only just announced he was running for president about two or three weeks beforehand.  I knew there was a possibility presidential candidates would have events at Penn State, but I did not think anyone would come this soon. However, I was eager to attend this event and have this experience.  This upcoming election is very important to me because it is the first presidential election where I can vote, so seeing someone who is running is very exciting.

I went to this event with James from class and some of my other friends who happen to be political science majors.  We arrived at ten o’clock, but by the time we got there, Heritage Hall was full. Instead we were ushered into the meeting rooms off to the side of one of the upstairs lounges.  We knew he wouldn’t be arriving there first.  A bunch of us started to watch the Facebook Livestream he had going because he was running a little late and we wanted to know what direction he was coming from.  He had just finished giving a talk in one of the other buildings and started his walk towards the HUB.  He was coming from the side where the Boucke Building and a few science labs are.

A few people had gathered by the doors to the meeting room so they could see him walking in. The livestream was slightly delayed, so we heard people cheering for him when he came in before we saw it on the video.  At that point we turned the stream off so we could see him walk in, but we didn’t know what door he would be coming through.  He stopped by the room we were in before heading to Heritage Hall. Somehow he got to the middle of the room and stood up on some sort of stool or platform.  He gave a very brief speech that lasted about three minutes or so. He didn’t stay for very long because he had other places he needed to go to, but I did catch a few glimpses of him and got a few good pictures.  I felt his speech started out very generic.  He talked about us needing to come together as Americans and how he would fight for each and every one of us as Americans (not that I’m complaining or anything; I just thought it was like what most politicians say).  He did briefly mention how he supports universal healthcare and how he wants to create a way for undocumented immigrants to become citizens.  He also talked about climate change for a little bit and how we need to start addressing the issue before it continues to grow.  He didn’t really go too in depth into any of his plans since he was only in the room for a few minutes, but it was nice to hear what issues he considered to be the most important.

The crowd in general had a lot of energy, but you could tell some people were there just to criticize him. They didn’t say anything to his face, but I heard a bit of muttering and some people just walked out of the room. However, I’m glad I had this experience and I hope I can have another one like this again as more candidates begin traveling.