Students, faculty members and former students were in the audience for President Barack Obama’s speech at The University of Kansas today. Here are some of their reflections:

Christian Espinsoa

LHS senior who arrived at  4 a.m. for the speech

“He is an amazing public speaker. My mom was in tears. It was really cool to hear everything he had discussed in the State of the Union address.”

Sadie Keller

LHS senior who attended the speech

What did you think about seeing the President speak?

“Well I think the atmosphere is great. Everybody is really happy and excited, so that’s good.”

Did you watch the State of the Union Address?

“Yes, multiple times. And then I watched all five Republican responses. The address was really good. I thought what he covered was interesting. So I am excited to hear him talk more about it, especially the minimum wage thing.”

Did Obama convince you that minimum wage should be raised?

“Well, I think that raising the minimum wage doesn’t really  permanently fix anything. It will just cause more inflation and then more workers will just hire more international workers, instead of American workers. So, that’s bad. But I think maybe instead we could focus on making healthcare cheaper for people who work for minimum wage.

Do you support the idea of free community college?

“I definitely support that, mostly because I would love a free education.”

How excited are you for Obama?

“Oh, I am so excited. Like I have not been this excited ever.”

J’Qui Audena

Former LHS student body president, class of 2012 and currently an econ major at KU

“I’m very excited to have the President visit us today. There is no one alive in this community who has welcomed a sitting U.S. President to Lawrence. Regardless of your politics, this is a part of our role to play in the legislative process. Our leader bringing his plan before the people and by being an informed citizen we can participate further by contacting our congressmen and saying, ‘you know I heard what the president had to say and I liked it. Make it happen.’ Besides that, President Obama is a total celebrity and even though I met him before, I still can’t shake that fan girl effect. His presence today highlights the City of Lawrence as more than the home of KU basketball and the most hungover city in America. We should be grateful for this exposure.”

Rep. John Wilson

As to why Obama is in Lawrence:

“I am interested to see what he has to say, but I mean KU’s Pharmacy School is outstanding. There is a lot of groundbreaking research happening and all kinds of departments. And I don’t think that it hurts also that Lawrence has been a place that historically supported him. It happens to be a convergence of two things. But I think that he would be able to talk about many things if he was at K- State, too.”