History in the making!

Hi Everyone,

It is hard to believe how fast the past three days have flown by since I first arrived to DC. I have not been able to receive internet access for the last few days until now when the concierge at my hotel offered me a free 1 time pass so I could write a quick blog.
I am currently sitting in my lobby of my hotel watching as couples walk by in their beautiful gowns and tuxedos to attend the "Bluegrass Ball" being held in our hotel this evening. This particular ball happens to be one of the many being held in celebration prior and on the evening of the inauguration.
The conference I have been attending each day has been filled with numerous speakers and seminars that have been incredible. One hundred buses arrived on the first morning to pick up all of the students to drive to the University of Maryland to hear from our keynote speaker general Colin Powell. As the 7,000 students sat in the stands and sat in awe of his presence and influential words on leadership and his experience working with the past four presidents. On this celebratory morning of Martin Luther Kings Jr's birthday, we were also fortunate to hear from former vice president Al Gore. He spoke about the drastic effects of global warming and how importance it is for an entire human effort in helping to reduce it. He stated that it will take the entire country and world to join together in making changes to us renewable energy sources.
Amongst the other various speakers and seminars some of the best aspects of being here is to be surrounded by the constant energy that fills this city. It has been expected that 4 million people are the DC area for this historical time and it is evident as everyone is so united. Everywhere you turn there are chanting voices and hopeful outlooks for the future to come.
The day everyone has been anticipating is now less than a day away. I plan on walking with a group from my conference to the capitol around 4:30 am with the other millions of other excited people awaiting to witness history. It is still hard to fathom that such a historical moment like this will be occurring in our lifetime!