While I look fondly upon my high school years, the thought of going back into the classroom had me just a little bit apprehensive. A few weeks ago in March I was invited by an old friend to see what the teaching world was like.  Luke Fritz was my high school football teammate and co-leader of a young men’s Bible study back in the days of yesteryear (all the way back to 2004! [haha i know, im not that old yet])

Me and Luke in our days @ Wilson HS in Portland, OR (I’m #15, he wears #64)

Brought as a special guest speaker to a Westview High’s freshman global studies class, I sat in on a vibrant discussion of current events as well as the the student’s homework, they had recently finished reporting on various countries in Africa.  I had even spoken to the kids via phone-conference while I was still in Virginia, so many of them were ecstatic to see me live and in-person.  The kids enthusiasm was great, we got to speaking about how I planned my trip, and how I’ve found that a bicycle is truly the best form of transport in the world.

Anyways, I loved speaking to the kids about my experience, also, seeing how my buddy Luke has been able to infuse social justice into the classroom.  The kids also asked about

and my plans to go to Rwanda.  I was impressed by their knowledge of Rwandan history.  It was great to see young minds committed to understanding more of the world around them.

I not only secured tickets for myself, but was able to give away 6 more tickets to members of the Biking for Obama team. Josh, Eleni, Albert, Julian, Kenjus and Jamie all reaped the benefits of the hard work they dedicated to helping film, coordinate logistics and support me ever since I came up with this idea. It was great to be able to pay-it-forward and get them tickets to experience yesterday’s historic events. (Its too bad we hadn’t gotten them earlier, they coulda paid off all my college loans!)

Anyways, my thoughts are fairly sporadic at this time, I haven’t had a chance to put it all together or even sit and be satisfied that I made it to DC.  The hoopla and media blitz that has gone on this week really tired me out (so much that I was too tired to get up @ 4:30AM on Tuesday to make it to a live interview on the mall–sorry “Fox & Friends”).

Getting into the inauguration was an amazing experience. If I had to describe it in one word, I’d have to say: People.  There were people for miles and miles. Riding the metro was like joining an enormous mosh pit, and walking two blocks around the mall took me an hour and a half!

Well, I’ll be sure to get on in the next day and update everyone with more of the experience, but for now enjoy the photos from this weekend in DC.