Senior Miguel Cardona said that at first it was hard to believe when he met the president of the United States.
Cardona, an exercise and sport science major, and his aunt, Vicki Moore, flew to Los Angeles to meet President Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton Oct. 7 after Moore won a contest.
Moore’s $35 donation to the Obama campaign entered her into the contest, but she never imagined she would win.
“I made a donation never thinking in two million years I would win,” Moore, a resident of Matthews, N.C., said.
Soon after making her contribution, Moore received a call from the Obama campaign. They told her they wanted to interview her for a possible television commercial.
She answered questions about what she felt Obama’s best accomplishments were and which issues were most important to her.
As a registered dietician who changed career paths later in life, she said she was most interested in the Affordable Care Act and student loans.
A few days later she received another call from the Obama campaign informing her she had won the contest to meet Obama and Clinton.
“It’s just not something you expect to hear,” Moore said.
Initially, Moore wanted to bring her mother, who is a strong supporter of Obama. But her mother wanted Miguel to have the experience instead.
“She said it would mean more to her if her daughter and grandson would go,” Cardona said.
So Moore and Cardona were flown to L.A. That night, they — along with two other contest winners from Ohio — attended the “30 Days to Victory” concert.
Earth, Wind & Fire; Katy Perry; Bon Jovi; Jennifer Hudson; and Stevie Wonder performed at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE venue. After the concert, Moore and Cardona were able to meet the president.
“He shook my hand and her hand, and before we took pictures he said, ‘Just give me a hug,’ and we hugged,” Cardona said.
They spoke to the president for a few minutes and took pictures with him. Moore said she felt very comfortable around the president.
“I didn’t feel nervous that I was talking to him,” Moore said. “He was just a regular person.”
Obama thanked them for their support and encouraged them to do what they can to get North Carolina behind him.
“He encouraged me to bring awareness to voting, not in any way telling people who to vote for but to exercise their right to vote,” Cardona said.
The next day they attended another fundraising event where they met President Bill Clinton and talked to him for about 10 minutes.
“It was more of an informal, relaxed conversation,” Cardona said.
Cardona said he was very appreciative of the whole experience.
“Most people don’t fall into situations like that,” he said. “The whole time I was very attentive to everything that was said by the presidents and just tried to represent my family and school while I was up there.”
Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.
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