Mica Murray, an S4 student who is President of The Berkeley Institute Student Council, attended the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference in Washington DC as a result of distinguishing herself when attending overseas leadership conferences during the summer of 2008. She participated in the "People to People" summer leadership programme and graduated from the 2008 Future Leaders Summit. She also earned a certificate of merit from the Congressional Youth Leadership Council's Global Young Leaders Conference and was nominated by this group, along with other exceptional students from around the world, to attend the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States.

On her return to Bermuda, she filed the following report:

January 20, 2009 will forever be one of the most remembered dates in modern history, and I was a part of it. I was offered the privilege to attend the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama. The days prior to this event were filled with keynote speakers such as Al Gore, General Colin Powell (Ret.), Archbishop Desmond Tutu and many more.

All of the keynote speakers gave inspiring speeches, which gave us, as young people, the power to stand up and take hold of all the opportunities that are offered. Out of all the keynote addresses that were given over the five-day period, the speaker that I remembered and enjoyed the most was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Desmond Tutu is an activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. In 1984, Tutu became the second South African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Tutu was elected and ordained the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

In his keynote address he highlighted that this generation is by far one of the most vocal and positive groups that he has ever met. The statement that he left us with was this: " You are no a longer VIP (Very important person) but you are a VSP (Very Special Person) because you all are special and have something special to contribute to the world".

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 5:30 a.m., I woke up in utter excitement because that day was the day that I was going to witness the then President Elect Barack Obama become the 44th president of the United States of America. We boarded our buses at 6:00 a.m. and drove from Dulles Airport to the US Capitol. At 10:00 a.m. I made my way from the end of the National Mall to the reflecting pool and watched on the jumbo tron as persons such as Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey, General Colin Powell and other significant persons made their way to their seats.

At 12:00 p.m. on the dot, President Elect Obama stood up and took the oath and became the 44th president of the United States. I was in great awe of how the people, blacks and whites, came together and unified to become one. It was no longer a segregated event but one where there were no colors, just people. He gave a great speech about a new era of responsibility. His speech re-affirmed to the people that change has come.

This experience has afforded me the chance to come back to Bermuda to encourage the citizens of this country and let them know that change can happen within, if you believe and have a plan.