"This is so cool!" I whispered excitedly to Amber Elking, the photographer and my companion for the day.

It was Oct. 16 and the two of us should have been in school, but were instead inhabiting a booth in the press section at a city meeting for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

I was completely in an ecstatic, nervous, shocked state. A Carson High School newspaper journalist with an official press pass dangling around my neck, sitting inside the Grand Theatre at the Grand Sierra Resort.

"I can't believe they really let us in already," I kept thinking to myself. Youth and adults alike had arrived hours early, only to stand in a monstrous line while Amber and I had waited about five minutes before we were instructed to sign in at a table for the press and go inside the theater.

I was surrounded by journalists who had been reporting on thousands of events for years and though I had only been on the high school's newspaper staff for about a month, I was a part of everything that they were for the next two hours.

After the photographers' equipment was checked and Obama volunteers were instructed on what needed to be done, the crowd began to flood in and music varying in eras and genres began blaring into the already noisy background. Amber was taken around with a traveling group of professional photographers, thus causing me to nervously latch on to a reporter from the Sparks Tribune.

Though I never exchanged names with her, we discussed journalism, ideal presidential qualities, and theories on what Obama would be covering in his speech before Sen. Obama actually went out on stage.

As soon as the first speaker came out, Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, I began taking notes. When Obama entered the stage - the only way I knew he was walking toward the podium, was the eardrum shattering cheering suddenly ringing off the walls of the auditorium - I quickly pushed the record button and listened as intently as possible.

Within the whole three- to four-hour experience (including everything, not just Obama's speech) I had gained eight full pages of notes, a one-hour, 13-minute and 13-second recording, a snazzy press necklace, and valuable career experience. To top it all off, I even received an upside down handshake from Obama himself.

I couldn't wait to get back to school to tell my journalism teacher, Mrs. Patt Quinn Davis about my amazing experience.

I was still completely jittery and overwhelmingly happy and felt the need to share the events of my day with anyone I came into contact with, including my former world history teacher and a cashier at a store where I bought something to drink.



• Meaghan Morawski is a 16-year-old senior at Carson High School. This is her first year as a Senator News staffer. She is serving as the advertising manager.