Reflection 8

I hope everyone enjoyed his or her election night in DC! I was at the White House from around 11 to 1 and it was one of the most incredible/emotional experiences of my life. Being there pretty early, my friends and I got pretty crushed by the crowd as more and more people arrived after the results were announced. Chanting “4 more years” and “2 terms” with so many other enthusiastic young people was exciting. I felt extremely connected to all of the strangers around me, especially when everyone started singing the national anthem together.

My experience at the White House last night and early yesterday morning was my first time being in such a large crowd for such an emotional and exciting event. After being there, I understand better how protests and rallies during social movements, including those in the MENA region, are so powerful. The group mentality that is created is undeniable. Hopefully it makes sense when I say there was a sense of invincibility within the crowd. I hadn’t understood before why people would actually enjoy being so squished into a crowd with random strangers, and I still can’t really explain why it was so great. But for some reason, having that connection with so many people was thrilling and exhilarating. Though I was in the group for a different purpose compared with social movement protests in the MENA region, I can more easily understand why protests of that nature are successful and draw in so many people.