I watched Obama’s acceptance speech while sitting on the couch with my girlfriend in my old house just a few blocks from where Barack went to high school in Hawaii. No one else was home and is was very quiet, but I remember feeling like something monumental was happening. I could look west out of my living room window and see the low rooftops and serene grassy ridge, and despite the tranquil setting, I knew that my hometown of NYC was celebrating this major milestone like we’d just won WWII. I felt very connected to it even though I was 5,000 miles away.

I was watching the results in a bar with a few friends. State by blue state, the energy and anticipation rose; however, there were so many people around it was easy to find yourself completely surrounded by strangers. When the networks finally called for Obama, everyone leaped up, cried, and embraced their neighbors whether they were strangers or not. Was it real? Was it really happening? The crowds poured out into the streets, high fiving and shouting victory. Cars honked their horns while people surfed their roofs. Tears of relief. I remember thinking that this is what it would be like if America truly cared about soccer and we won the World Cup. Times 10.

November 4 was no doubt an amazing evening, but the best memory I have is waking up on November 5 and walking to the subway and feeling the sense of pride, excitement and joy that just permeated the air. People were just so happy. It truly felt like a new day, and I felt like slapping high fives with everyone that I passed.

My mom was in the hospital at the time, so my dad, sister, and I threw an election results watch party in the ICU lounge. We had streamers, balloons, noise makers, and cake. When Obama’s victory was announced, the entire 4th floor was cheering and celebrating. It was beautiful.

I was in my dorm at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, watching returns in one of the student lounges with about 20 other residents. We were watching the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert coverage on Comedy Central when Stewart announced, “At 11 pm, eastern time, the President of the United States is Barack Obama.” We all screamed and hugged and then turned on CNN for confirmation. We were making so much noise that our RA had to remind us that it was “quiet hours” and sent us outside if we wanted to yell. We quieted down enough to watch his acceptance speech, then went outside. As we ran around outside, hugging perfect strangers, we noticed a group of people heading in one direction. We followed them, and ended up at the center of campus with an enormous group of people. We marched together from campus to the state capitol building, cheering and hugging and chanting “Yes We Can”; by the time we got there we had about 1500 supporters marching. We stood on the steps of the WI state capitol building and sang the national anthem. When I got back to my room, it was 1 in the morning. As I lay in bed trying to sleep, I was still trying to wrap my head around it; I kept whispering, “Oh, my God, President Barack Obama” and I started crying. I couldn’t believe it was real. It was one of the proudest, most incredible experiences I’ve ever had.

I was driving to my mother’s house in Queens NY, on the New Jersey Turnpike from doing Voter Protection for the Democratic Party in Philadelphia PA when I heard on the radio that the election had been called for President Obama. I felt tears come to my eyes. When I arrived at my moms house to pick up my kids, they were watching the news and everyone was glued to the TV, especially the children ages, 5, 10 and 18. My mother said over and over again, I never thought I’d see anything like this in my lifetime. I felt the same way. We are African American. I use to tell my kids they could grow up to be President of the United States, but I never really believed it. After that night, I did.

I spent almost the entire day doing GOTV and then I went and watched election returns with my college’s non-partisan political science organization. Obama won and I was thrilled! The real memory was when I came home though. I went into my bedroom and my mom was sitting on the couch watching the coverage with tears in her eyes. She began telling me how she never thought this day would come because she had lived through the 60s complete with race riots. She told me how proud she was of me for taking a stand in the election (which she would support either way).

I was with a group of folks at the Cherry Hill Democratic Headquarters. We were watching as the results came in. As the night wore on it became clearer and clearer that our Mr. Obama was about to be our next President. On that night and to this day, when I think about the magnitude of that election, I am overwhelmed.