Local students analyze Presidential Inauguration speech in class

Students in Angelica Urbina’s speech class watch Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration intently.

For many of them, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen a president take the oath of office.

“Seeing this one, it gets me more into politics,” Burges sophomore Sheccid Alvidrez said. “It’s our future, and I want to know about it and get into it.”

Urbina said it was a learning opportunity for her class.

“As a speech course, what better place to watch his speech than in a speech class,” Urbina said. “As a public-speaking course, this is the opportunity to compare. We did a little bit of reading on what sort of techniques or recommendations as per what scholars recommend should be in a speech.”

Senior Seth Van Matre is no stranger to inaugurations. He was in attendance for Obama’s second inauguration.

“It was really, really great being there, and seeing everybody enjoy the celebration,” Van Matre said. “People [at Trump’s inauguration] are probably experiencing a lot of heartfelt emotions. Seeing our nation transition with power is something that we only get to see once every four years.”

“Every single student should be civically-minded, and we should always be involved in politics,” Van Matre said. “The more involved we are in politics, the better we run as a society and as a nation.

Van Matre said regardless of party affiliation, it’s important to witness the moment.

“The election was a very interesting one considering how partisan everything was. I think whether you’re staunchly democrat, I think it’s still extremely important that we all come together as a community and watch this.”