I’ll always remember where I was at 5:30 am on the morning of November 5th. I was sitting on a slightly damp, very stinky couch that is like every other couch found in college dorms across the world. And on this couch, surrounded by other American study abroad students at this University located in the middle of a field that looks like every other Danish field, I cried. Like most folks back home, I watched the countdown to the West Coast polls closing with anxiousness. Next, I expected a projection for California, but instead was told by CNN that Barack Obama was the President-elect.

We all looked at each other with stunned expressions for a solid ten seconds before it sunk in. Simultaneously we all stood up and cried and hugged, for in that defining moment we reclaimed our national pride and faith in our system. We cried out of relief that the president who was never ours will soon to be gone and that a new era of leadership, one characterized by patience and intelligence and integrity, would be ushered in. We cried because we, as a country, finally progressed to a point in history where an African-American could be elected by such overwhelming numbers. And some of us cried because we just wanted to be at home, celebrating with all our friends and family.

All in all, our experience was like yours: lots of anxiety and nervousness followed by exaltation and happy tears. It was nothing spectacular or unique, but those tears that rolled down my face as I watched MY next President speak in such an eloquent and powerful way made those 8000 miles of distance between me and my loved ones feel a lot smaller than they have ever before.