Choosing Hope over Fear

I watched the Obama inauguration this afternoon, and I hope that even if you don't like him you watched it also. It seems that this country finally has a leader that has ambition, which is more important than the partisan bull. He has the will to finally get things done, to change the way this country runs. I'm a college student and I am genuinely excited about his eventual school reform. I'm not loving taking out loans with terribly high interest rates to go to school for four years, and then taking out more loans to go to graduate school for another four years. I'd like to have a family sometime in the future but how can I afford with with $150,000 dollars of debt and interest coming out of school.
He also doesn't sugar coat the shape the country is in, "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet." He knows that people don't want a lie or some words we can hide behind, people want the truth. He speaks with authority and it actually makes me believe that something can be done to fix the country. I feel good just watching the inauguration, knowing that there is a chance that there is some selflessness left in Washington and that we do have a chance at a brighter tomorrow.

We are ready to lead.