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Student leaders from Utah visit Washington for inauguration

Posted at 9:42 PM, Jan 20, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-20 23:42:15-05

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Hundreds of thousands of people gathered around the U.S. Capitol Friday to witness the inauguration of Donald Trump. Among them were 18 students from American Fork High School.

“You could feel it, you could feel the power, and it’s different from watching it on a TV screen and actually being there,” sophomore Sydney Mathieson said.

Mathieson is among a group of sophomores, juniors and seniors who are part of student government. They summed up the experience as life changing.

“The inauguration was phenomenal," Brook Bradford, a junior, said. "I think it was so incredible to see some of our highest leaders address the nation and to be there in person."

On Thursday, the students got to meet some of their own Utah representatives, including Jason Chaffetz, Rob Bishop and Mia Love.

“I loved meeting Mia Love, it was like girl power, she gave a pep talk--like you got to be involved in things,” senior Emma Vernon said.

The students also had the opportunity to visit monuments and historic places that were once only accessible via history books.

“Just to see all the people who have given their lives wholeheartedly to our country,” Mathieson said. “I will definitely take it back to our school and give it 100 percent no matter what.”

However, it was seeing the 45th president himself that stood out among this group of future politicians, activists and leaders.

“I was able to vote this year, I’m 18, and to feel that my vote affected it was really cool,” Vernon said.

“It was so cool to hear what he said about giving the power back to the people,” Bradford said.

Overall, it was a day of patriotism that made these students proud to be from a school that has “American” in its name. These American Fork students return home to Utah on Saturday.