Witnessing History: Westfield Student Attends Presidential Inauguration

WESTFIELD, NJ — What better way to understand politics and history than to witness it firsthand? That’s exactly what Annika Vesuna of Westfield was able to do when she went to Washington DC to witness the 2017 Presidential Inauguration.

“It was amazing,” Vesuna said. “I saw so many wonderful people.

Vesuna was nominated last year by her fifth grade teacher Marisa Truselo from Tamaques Elementary School to attend the National Junior Youth Leadership Conference in DC this past summer. While there she received a scholarship and was invited to attend the 2017 presidential inauguration.

“At this point I was ecstatic and admired the fact that others saw a light shining bright inside me and wanted to light it even brighter,” Vesuna wrote in her article to the school.

At 11 years old and now a sixth grader at Edison Intermediate School, Vesuna watched the peaceful transition of power from one president to another. She also saw protestors.

“It was a cool experience to see people fighting for what they believed in,” Vesuna said. “Some people had different approaches. Some were violent and some peaceful.”

During her time there, she was also placed into one of the many delegation groups. Vesuna’s group was tasked with helping to cure the future and the world of tomorrow and they were to come up with a solution to the healthcare problem, create a pitch, and write a paper arguing their point. Her group presented their solution to a small crowd where they moved into the finals. Her group came in second overall.

Vesuna also had the opportunity to meet many powerful figures including: Malala Yousafzai, Ziauddin Yousafzia, Carly Fiorina, Martin O’Mally, Gen. Colin Powell, Spike Lee, and Abby Wambach.

Powell made the biggest impact on Vesuna.

“Gen. Powell tried to convey the message that if we all keep worrying about our future we would miss out on tomorrow. Instead, he said worry about tomorrow and let tomorrow determine your future,” Vesuna said. “As any human, Gen. Powell has his own opinion on politics, yet he keeps them to himself and stays peaceful which many people in this day and age lack. Personally, I admire him for all of these reasons and I am flattered that I was granted the honor to see him through my own eyes and hear him speak.”

Witnessing history at such a young age made Vesuna’s parents proud.

“She was thoroughly inspired. She was really in the midst of seeing and hearing the inauguration and agreeing or not with who was elected, it was still historic.” Annika’s mom Binaifer said. “Her story will be with her for the rest of her life to tell her children and her grandchildren.”

(Photos provided)

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