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Home > Featured Stories > Outside the Classroom > January 2009 > Birthday with the PresidentA Birthday with the President
I hope that I will be able to get a better grasp on what's going on in our country - we all see what's going on through the news media, but now I will able to witness some of it first-hand.
LaTaunya Tillman, on what she hopes to take away from her upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.
NC State freshman LaTaunya Tillman ('12) served as the head chair of the 2007 Global Young Leaders Conference – an appointment that helped earn her a trip to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
By Dave Pond, Web Communication
Not many people get the chance to spend their birthday with the president, but it's a wish that will come true for NC State freshman LaTaunya Tillman, who will celebrate her 19th birthday Tuesday by attending Barack Obama's inauguration.
"Since this was the first time I was able to vote, I'm really excited about being able to witness such an historic event," Tillman said. "I think it's a great birthday present, and I can't wait to go."
The biomedical engineering major was selected to attend the 2009 Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference, and will travel to Washington D.C. next week to take part in meetings with members of the U.S. Congress, debates with leading political experts and the traditional ceremony of the inauguration itself.
Tillman, a 2008 graduate of South View (Fayetteville, N.C.) High School, began her own political career as vice-president of her school's student-government association, but her interest in global issues peaked after she was nominated to take part in Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC) activities two summers ago.
"It was the most fabulous time I've ever had," Tillman said. "We spent one week in Washington and another in New York City, and were able to visit several embassies, a number of museums and historical venues as well as the United Nations building."
During the 12-day excursion – which brought students from as far as Japan, Germany and Cameroon to the GYLC – students broke into a number of committees to discuss some of the key issues facing world leaders today: human rights, economics and the role of the U.N. itself.
Tillman was elected not only president of the students' health committee, but ascended to the role of overall head chair of the group's mock U.N. sessions as well. After graduating from South View in June 2008, she began her NC State career during the university's second summer session, when she was selected to participate the College of Engineering's Summer Transition Program (STP) for incoming minority freshmen.
"It gave me a great opportunity to familiarize myself with the campus and get to know some of my professors as well," Tillman said.
As Tillman readies herself for her trip to our nation's capital, she hopes the trip will further shed light on a number of hot-button, political issues while also expanding her blossoming global perspective. Tillman aspires go to medical school after graduation, before finding work that would allow her to travel globally while providing aid to a number of people groups.
"I don't want to settle for living here my whole life, just because it's within my comfort zone - I want to get out there and see the world," she said. "I hope that I will be able to get a better grasp on what's going on in our country – we all see what's going on through the news media, but now I will able to witness some of it first-hand.
"At the same time, I'll get to spend time with other students from around the world and really expand my social group," Tillman said. "There's nothing like knowing other people from outside of your circle and seeing the world from another perspective."
