January 20^th is significant again and it’s not because Martin Luther King Day falls on it. It is the first day in eight years that we have sworn in a new president of the United States. More markedly, it is the first day in our nation’s history that we have sworn in someone other than a white male. Did you make use of one of your sick days today? Are you employing your TiVos or DVRs? Is your office unceremoniously cloistered around a boxy television set upon a roll-in cart? Today is Inauguration Day, and no one, whether Republican, Independent, or Democrat, is immune to what today signifies for our country and our futures.

We are saying farewell to a disastrous administration, and hello to, well, who can really say? All we know at this point is that President Barack Obama bears no resemblance to President George W. Bush, either physically or politically. Bush is leaving with low approval ratings while leaving behind the chaos and uncertainty of a war and an economic crisis that have yet to be resolved. Obama, whether in earnest or in faith, wisely based his campaign on change, delivered with the kind of ingenuousness that is so rare to find amongst politicians. He contended from the beginning that there is a shade of gray where other parties saw only black and white—it’s time we remember we are individually no better or worse than anyone else on the planet. According to Obama, the separatism must end, and this more than anything else, won me over in primary season.

So, for the first time in my entire life, I made a point of tuning into the Inauguration. I watched as Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in first by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. His oath was long, but he repeated it back without incident. President Obama was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, who had stumbled over the shorter oath, and left Obama smiling and eager to get back on track. Obama delivered his first speech as president, communicating to us all that there is work to be done, but retained the hope that we will remain the world’s leading power. I haven’t a clue how this will be managed, I just have to trust that our government has a better idea of what to do than the previous administration. He will have to produce results if he wants to be reelected to a second term, so that will be a definite motivator. Excuse me if I sound cynical, but we are all leaving the Bush administration with wary eyes: watchful, suspicious, but undeniably hopeful. Hopeful that he is even half of what we desire him to be.

The luncheon proved to be just as eventful as our Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, suffered a seizure at his table. It was a symptom of his brain cancer, brought on by fatigue from the day's events. Obama left the luncheon briefly to join him and returned, letting the room of politicians know that a part of him remained with the Senator. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry reported that Kennedy had his “Irish up,” and is resting after the episode.

The luncheon was followed by an extensive parade, one that I had been tuned into throughout the afternoon and early evening. The general feeling of the crowd was that of elation; tearful and celebratory. I can comprehend this, as both reactions have been battling inside me through the day—I feel like my voice had been heard in a way that it hasn’t before, and I am not alone but united with my fellow citizens in wanting to see a better America.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be attending balls through the night, and shaking countless hands. Only too soon will the sun rise, and the dreary work of mending our nation commence. I can only wish him and all of us luck for January 21st, and all the days after.