Five Senses of the Wake Washington Launch Party

Today’s Daily Deac is from Emily Beeland (’19), our guest blogger from the Wake Washington program.

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On October 12, 600+ people gathered in the Newseum in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the official opening of the Wake Washington Center at 1 Dupont Circle. Since I am a member of the inaugural class, I was lucky enough to attend and even be recognized during the program.

During the evening, I realized that there are a lot of people who cared about the opening of the center, and with how vast our Wake Forest network is, there is no way that everyone who wanted to be there could have come. It was also a pretty cool night and fun night – so much fun that I took maybe two pictures the entire night because I was so preoccupied with everything else going on.

So, for those of you who weren’t there, or for those of you who were and would like to have a reminder of what the night was like, here is the “five sense” of the Wake Washington Launch Party!

I saw –

• Lots of Old Gold and Black – be it in the decorations throughout the hall, the balloons at the entrance, the costume of the Demon Deacon, or even in the various outfits I saw on everyone
• Tweets flashing by on a screen with the hashtag #WakeWashington (even one of mine was featured!)
• The new logo for Wake Washington – a silhouette of Wait Chapel in front of the Capitol
• Lots of people – like lots and lots of people – and all of them are connected somehow to Wake Forest, how cool is that??
• President Hatch walking around (Bucket List Item: Meet President Hatch before I graduate)
• Small round tables set up around the area, with 3 round tables with chairs right beside the stage (this is where President Hatch, Dr. Katy Harriger, Donna Edwards, and the Wake Washington students sat during the remarks)
• Photos and exhibits on the wall, specifically those who had been featured in National Geographic over the years – this was one of the exhibits the Newseum kept open for us to look at
• Lots of smiles, everyone seemed happy to be there!

I smelt –

• A slightly sweet, calming scent – I assume it came from some of the flower arrangements that were on the tables
• Something that smells really good – probably from one of the plates of food that passed me

I felt –

• The slight cool breeze from the open door that led to the patio – it made me glad I decided to wear long sleeves
• Excitement and pride – those feelings were palpable in the air from everyone there
• The cold glass of the [non-alcoholic] drink I was holding

I heard –

• The general hum of voices talking in indistinct chatter
• My friend and suitemate, Angel Scales (’18), speaking to Dean Gillespie about the Wake Washington program
• Words such as “opportunity”, “internship”, “excitement”, “monument”, “classwork” and “restaurant” (P.S. – if anyone has suggestions for brunch places, feel free to let any Wake Washington student know because we’ve made it our goal to try as many brunch places this semester as possible)
• Some indecipherable music playing in the background – it sounds vaguely familiar but I can’t make it out

I tasted –

• The slight tang from the juice that I was drinking
• A flavor reminiscent of Italian food that came from the Quinoa bites that were one of the hors d’oeuvres being served

The launch party was a great experience, and I am so glad that the Wake Washington program is something that Wake has done – it’s the type of program that I could only dream about doing when I was a freshman, and it’s crazy to think that I have this opportunity now. To quote Hamilton: The Musical – “look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now!”

[official pictures from the event are below]