First Lady Michelle Obama addresses a crowd of 1,800 at the Kenyon Athletic Center on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. (Samuel Colt for The Thrill)

Senior year is trying to say the least. It’s like an emotional ping pong game that flings you between feeling the need to get out and hopeless nostalgia. And a lot of tears. Caught up in all their sentimentality, you might notice that seniors frequently say things like, “The underclassmen will never know…” or “We’ll be the last class to have …” Perhaps one of the most memorable events for the class of 2016 was the 2012 presidential election, which was preceded by Michelle Obama’s rally at the KAC. Here’s what our seniors had to say: 

Matt Delbridge ’16:

I didn’t go. I think I may have been hungover.

After further prying…

In all honesty I really don’t remember what I was doing when Michelle came.

Claire Berman ’16:

I wrote a very poorly viewed article about election night. I think the period was kind of a blur for me tbh. That was so soon into the start of school, so I was a lot more focused on, “Who am I gonna eat lunch with?” than the fate of the country. But I did see Michelle Obama, and I did vote! It was my first real election (though I had voted in the primary in Illinois) and I was pumped to vote. I didn’t get a “I just voted!” sticker, which kind of peeved me.

I remember walking out of Gund Gallery after Obama had been elected and seeing an acquaintance very excitedly talking to his girlfriend on the phone. He said, “We did it baby, you and me. This was us. We made history.” I kind of snorted.

I remember waiting in a super long line that wrapped around the KAC. People were talking about seeing Secret Service Agents getting a sandwich at the Market deli counter. At one point during the rally a baby cried out and Michelle said something to the effect of ‘I feel that way about our country too!’ or somehow otherwise incorporated it into her speech. Everyone loved that. I also remember that it was hard for me to see. I’m 5’1″. As for the election, I remember people cheering and celebrating in McBride after the results came in and Obama was declared the winner.