Posted 10:19 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016
Student leader attended the president’s 2016 State of the Union Address.
When Rep. Ron Kind chose his guests to attend this year’s State of the Union address, Kaylee Otterbacher made the list. The UWL student leader sat inside the chambers along with politicians, leaders and other esteemed guests as the president addressed how the U.S. was doing and laid out his priorities for the future.
[caption id="attachment_44692" align="alignright" width="145"]
UWL Student Association President Kaylee Otterbacher[/caption]
It’s the second time Otterbacher has seen the president speak this year, the first being when he visited UWL last July. She shares some reflections on the experience.
What was your reaction when you were invited?
I was absolutely elated. This event and meeting the president this summer were the last thing I ever imagined I would be able to do, and quite honestly for a while I couldn't really believe it was real. For the longest time I had myself convinced that something would fall through or plans would change and in the end I wouldn't be able to have this opportunity. But when I got out to Washington this week I really realized that it was real and that I was going to be attending one of the biggest (if not the biggest) political event of the year.
How was the experience?
The entire night really felt surreal. I interned in Congress this summer and had seen the House Chambers plenty of times, including where the voting takes place, but walking into the Chambers on Tuesday night was nothing like I remembered it this summer.
So many people have asked me how it went and I'm finding out that it's so difficult to describe the experience. All I can end up saying is that sitting among our country's most influential people was something I will never forget.
Where were you sitting and how was the view?
If you are standing at the podium as the president, I was directly in the back left hand corner (just a few rows down from the First Lady - which was even more crazy!).
I thought my view of the Chambers was one of the best, because I could see everything without having to shift my head back and forth. I was able to see the distinct (and unfortunate) divide lines between the political parties when people stood up and when they stayed seated.
I ended up sitting next to a current Hill intern. We talked all about our experiences. Right before the address began I started talking to a man that sat right in front of me, and it turns out he grew up in the same town as my mom and they knew each other. What a small world!
Are there any issues the president talked about that you are particularly passionate about?
Higher Education is absolutely going to be my answer for this one. This is now the second year that the president mentioned higher education in his State of the Union - and you can definitely tell that affordable and accessible higher education is getting pushed to the front of the political agenda, and it's awesome to see.
Along with the president, two Wisconsin lawmakers brought UW students to the State of the Union, which also demonstrates our national legislators commitment to higher education. Higher education is a huge topic in the 2016 race - something we didn't see in 2008 and 2012. I'm so glad to finally see legislators and political candidates calling for improvements to our higher education system.
How cool is it that you’ve gotten to see a sitting president speak in person twice in the past few months?
[caption id="attachment_44690" align="alignleft" width="300"]
President Barack Obama speaks on the UWL campus July 1, 2015. This was the first experience in the past few months Otterbacher had listening to a sitting president speak in person.[/caption]
I really can't express how incredibly amazing the past six months have been. If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought I would get to both meet a sitting president and watch him give his last State of the Union address I would have never believed you. If you would have asked me the same thing my freshman year I think I would have laughed. But I think that I've been afforded a special privilege at both events. While it's an honor within itself just to meet the president, listen to him speak and attend his last State of the Union address (or even just do one of the above), but doing all of those same things while representing my university is a whole different level of special.
I remember my very first day on campus my freshman year, and never in my wildest, wildest dreams would I have pictured myself here today. If given the opportunity, I would never leave this amazing school that has given me so much over the years. I came to UWL just thinking that I would get a great education and (hopefully) make some friends. Instead, I'm leaving this place having done all that I expected as well as things that I never would have imagined, that resulted in memories that will last a lifetime.
Politics aside, is there anything you take away from the event?
The president's last topic that he spoke about was one that really resonated to me: getting along with each other, regardless of party affiliation. As we walked over to the Capitol building, Congressman Kind and I chatted about how we'll see a lot of retirement in the coming years, and how my generation is going to start stepping up soon as our nation's leaders. I thought to myself that I think my generation is optimistically and enthusiastically up to the task, but then hearing President Obama make those remarks about being less polarized and really coming together as a nation made me think that if my generation wants to be as successful as I know we all can be, we have to step up and over partisan lines and ties to make this country the best it can be. The president said one of the few regrets of his Presidency is that it made the political parties more polarized, and I couldn't help but hear that as a call to action for my generation in not following in the footsteps of that mistake.
My student leader colleagues around the state sometimes are divided about certain issues and we often disagree on the best method or route to doing something. But we all know that in order to be effective, we have to be a unified body. We have to come up with solutions that play to the benefits of the best ideas of all of those involved, and inspiringly, we usually do find that solution. And we do that because we recognize that we are a whole world more effective together than we are apart, and that while we have so many people out there fighting against us, we'll never be successful if we have to fight with ourselves as well. The president mentioned that America has enemies, and we do. And the more divided we are as a nation, the weaker we are as a nation.
America is so, so much stronger united than we are divided. And I think if that message resonates with other young Americans like it did myself, I absolutely cannot wait to see what we can accomplish. I say we follow our president's advice and make our politics bring out what's really best in this nation instead of the worst in us.
UWL Student Association President Kaylee Otterbacher[/caption]
It’s the second time Otterbacher has seen the president speak this year, the first being when he visited UWL last July. She shares some reflections on the experience.
What was your reaction when you were invited?
I was absolutely elated. This event and meeting the president this summer were the last thing I ever imagined I would be able to do, and quite honestly for a while I couldn't really believe it was real. For the longest time I had myself convinced that something would fall through or plans would change and in the end I wouldn't be able to have this opportunity. But when I got out to Washington this week I really realized that it was real and that I was going to be attending one of the biggest (if not the biggest) political event of the year.
How was the experience?
The entire night really felt surreal. I interned in Congress this summer and had seen the House Chambers plenty of times, including where the voting takes place, but walking into the Chambers on Tuesday night was nothing like I remembered it this summer.
So many people have asked me how it went and I'm finding out that it's so difficult to describe the experience. All I can end up saying is that sitting among our country's most influential people was something I will never forget.
Where were you sitting and how was the view?
If you are standing at the podium as the president, I was directly in the back left hand corner (just a few rows down from the First Lady - which was even more crazy!).
I thought my view of the Chambers was one of the best, because I could see everything without having to shift my head back and forth. I was able to see the distinct (and unfortunate) divide lines between the political parties when people stood up and when they stayed seated.
I ended up sitting next to a current Hill intern. We talked all about our experiences. Right before the address began I started talking to a man that sat right in front of me, and it turns out he grew up in the same town as my mom and they knew each other. What a small world!
Are there any issues the president talked about that you are particularly passionate about?
Higher Education is absolutely going to be my answer for this one. This is now the second year that the president mentioned higher education in his State of the Union - and you can definitely tell that affordable and accessible higher education is getting pushed to the front of the political agenda, and it's awesome to see.
Along with the president, two Wisconsin lawmakers brought UW students to the State of the Union, which also demonstrates our national legislators commitment to higher education. Higher education is a huge topic in the 2016 race - something we didn't see in 2008 and 2012. I'm so glad to finally see legislators and political candidates calling for improvements to our higher education system.
How cool is it that you’ve gotten to see a sitting president speak in person twice in the past few months?
[caption id="attachment_44690" align="alignleft" width="300"] President Barack Obama speaks on the UWL campus July 1, 2015. This was the first experience in the past few months Otterbacher had listening to a sitting president speak in person.[/caption]
I really can't express how incredibly amazing the past six months have been. If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought I would get to both meet a sitting president and watch him give his last State of the Union address I would have never believed you. If you would have asked me the same thing my freshman year I think I would have laughed. But I think that I've been afforded a special privilege at both events. While it's an honor within itself just to meet the president, listen to him speak and attend his last State of the Union address (or even just do one of the above), but doing all of those same things while representing my university is a whole different level of special.
I remember my very first day on campus my freshman year, and never in my wildest, wildest dreams would I have pictured myself here today. If given the opportunity, I would never leave this amazing school that has given me so much over the years. I came to UWL just thinking that I would get a great education and (hopefully) make some friends. Instead, I'm leaving this place having done all that I expected as well as things that I never would have imagined, that resulted in memories that will last a lifetime.
Politics aside, is there anything you take away from the event?
The president's last topic that he spoke about was one that really resonated to me: getting along with each other, regardless of party affiliation. As we walked over to the Capitol building, Congressman Kind and I chatted about how we'll see a lot of retirement in the coming years, and how my generation is going to start stepping up soon as our nation's leaders. I thought to myself that I think my generation is optimistically and enthusiastically up to the task, but then hearing President Obama make those remarks about being less polarized and really coming together as a nation made me think that if my generation wants to be as successful as I know we all can be, we have to step up and over partisan lines and ties to make this country the best it can be. The president said one of the few regrets of his Presidency is that it made the political parties more polarized, and I couldn't help but hear that as a call to action for my generation in not following in the footsteps of that mistake.
My student leader colleagues around the state sometimes are divided about certain issues and we often disagree on the best method or route to doing something. But we all know that in order to be effective, we have to be a unified body. We have to come up with solutions that play to the benefits of the best ideas of all of those involved, and inspiringly, we usually do find that solution. And we do that because we recognize that we are a whole world more effective together than we are apart, and that while we have so many people out there fighting against us, we'll never be successful if we have to fight with ourselves as well. The president mentioned that America has enemies, and we do. And the more divided we are as a nation, the weaker we are as a nation.
America is so, so much stronger united than we are divided. And I think if that message resonates with other young Americans like it did myself, I absolutely cannot wait to see what we can accomplish. I say we follow our president's advice and make our politics bring out what's really best in this nation instead of the worst in us.