Off to Denver...

I have been anxiously awaiting the Democratic National Convention all summer! I will be volunteering and sightseeing the entire week. I am planning on staying with an Illinois delegate for Senator Obama in the Marriott Hotel with the rest of the Illinois delegation. The only confirmed volunteering I will be doing is all day Thursday at Invesco Field. I will be reporting at 9am and not leaving until after the acceptance speech that night. The speech is expected to fill the 75,000 person football stadium, and it should be quite a sight to see.

For those of you that don't know me, I'll give you a quick bio. I am a senior political science major at UIS, and currently serving as the Student Trustee to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees for UIS. I transferred to UIS from Black Hawk College, where I received an AA. I am and have been my whole life a democrat. I wouldn't put that label lightly, but at the same time I try to respect every opinion while maintaining a strong conviction in my own. That being said, I am extremely happy that my candidate, Barack Obama, is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. Maybe in another post I will dive into the reasons I supported Senator Obama, but that may only serve to rehash old battles, and lower my grade in Dr. Miller's American Presidency course.

I will say however, that I interned in Senator Obama's Senate Office for one year while attending Black Hawk College in my hometown of Moline. I also, have been there from the beginning. When Senator Obama was campaigning in 2004, I knocked doors for him. When he announced on the steps of the Old State Capital in Springfield, I was there. When he won the Iowa Caucuses, I was there. I have a hotel booked in D.C. for a certain event on January, but I do not want to jinx any thing. I have been given many of these opportunities through school, and through College Democrats. Last year in College Dems I served as Vice-President and we campaigned about every weekend for local and federal candidates. Any perspective or incoming students I would tell you to join the club of the party you affiliate with whether is be Dems, Republicans, or Greens. The people and times are a blast.

Well I think at this point I am rambling. I will be updating this blog on a daily basis for UIS, but also continuing to use it after the convention is over. I can't wait to leave Sunday at 4:38pm from Galesburg, IL. Also, I should mention that my brother is getting married on Saturday the 23rd, and I am overjoyed for him and his bride to be Amber Johnson.