For Christopher Cook '12, that moment at the University of Pittsburgh campus on Election Night made it all worth it.

About 2,000 people crowded into a Democratic Party celebration, including around two dozen members of SUNY Oswego Students for Barack Obama who went to Pennsylvania to turn out the vote. As the second hand moved toward 11, and polls closed in Western states, "everyone started chanting '3 ... 2 ... 1,' and then it popped on the screen that Obama won," Cook recalled. "The place just exploded. People were cheering, screaming, jumping up and down."

Abby Jenkins '09 shares Cook's enthusiasm for the historic election. The Democratic campaigner is heading to Washington, D.C., for Obama's inauguration in January through the Washington Center program.

"I'm a small-town girl, so going to Washington, D.C., on my own without family or friends is an interesting thing itself," said Jenkins, who was part of the unsuccessful Congressional campaign of Democrat Mike Oot in her hometown of Canastota this past election season.

The Oswego Presidential Scholar will receive support from the Provost's Office to participate with the Washington Center. As a political science and theatre double major, Jenkins puts attendance at this historic inauguration pretty high on her life to-do list.

"The top experience would be becoming president myself," she said.

While in the nation's capitol, Jenkins will also conduct some independent research. Her thesis: Obama's grassroots campaign illustrates a shift in youth involvement with civic engagement, which is perceived as dwindling.

"Obviously the people that are going to be there are politically active, some of them for the first time," she said. "Those are the people I'm interested in talking to."

Oswego students across the political spectrum were involved in this year's election process, often for more than the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. Some advocated for candidates and causes, others registered new voters and many students went to the polls for the first time.

Members of Oswego's College Republicans focused on voter registration, raising awareness and helping local candidates. They canvassed Volney for state Senate challenger David Renzi and went door-to-door in Dewitt for Congressional candidate Dale Sweetland. The weekend before the election, they went around Oswego County campaigning for Renzi, meeting the candidate himself and state Supreme Court candidate Tom Cerio.

Even with many Democratic wins, Becky Urtz '10, chair of the College Republicans, thought students benefited from participating.

"We get to meet our candidates personally, which is great for us to be doing at such a young age," Urtz said. "You get to network with a lot of different people you normally would not get to meet. Plus, they're a lot of fun! Every time we went out everyone had a great time."

Many students voted for the first time, hundreds signing up through various on-campus registration drives by groups including the college's Civic Engagement Coalition. "Not only is it a right that we all have but it is one of the biggest ways that we can exercise our political power," said Rocco Fragomeni '09, who cast his first vote this year. "If we do not vote, we leave it up to someone else to decide our future."

Sean Balogh '11 also voted for the first time this election and was among the students traveling to Pennsylvania to support Obama.

"I voted because I felt that this election was the biggest in modern U.S. politics," he said.

The Political Science Club hosted a successful Election Night party with about 150 people gathering in the Campus Center activity court, adviser Helen Knowles said.

Entertainment included a competition where participants tried to guess the final Electoral College vote.  There was also a presidential election trivia competition and Student Association Vice President Andre Fields '09 provided entertainment by doing impressions of President George W. Bush, Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

"I actually think most people realized the enormity of the occasion, regardless of the candidate they were rooting for," said Knowles. "Those of us who stayed to the end for Obama's acceptance speech all did the same thing when he gave his speech -- sat there in awed silence. Many of us were in tears."

A special edition of "Project Nation" ran from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on WNYO-FM, and later on WTOP-TV, with faculty guests, live streams of the concession and acceptance speeches, field reports from students in Pennsylvania and Virginia, and many more callers than the weekly show has ever had, said co-host Tim Farnsworth '09.

Farnsworth and former Student Association President Joshua Miller '08 created the show in fall 2007 with a goal "to create a dialogue on politics on several levels," from the campus level up through the international realm, Farnsworth said.

This semester, "Project Nation" hosted both local state Senate candidates and sought to increase student knowledge and participation. "Just the fact that so many students responded, were passionate about the election and following it way into the night was encouraging," he added.

Farnsworth and Fields also informed students on where the candidates stood with an interactive online election forum where they stated the positions of McCain and Obama, respectively.

Cook -- who shares experiences through his Oswego blog -- said he and other students learned firsthand about campaigning and, when sent out alone in big Pennsylvania cities, about self-reliance. "It was a bit of a culture shock to be in a big city alone," Cook said. "I hoped I didn't get lost."

Instead, Cook and other students involved in this election found out some things about themselves. "I've never been so passionate about something outside of myself," he said. "It was great not only to see something happen I'd been hoping for, but also to know that I made a difference."

-- Tim Nekritz M '05 and Julie-Jo Stanton '09
Shane M. Liebler contributed

PHOTO CAPTION:
A line of SUNY Oswego students winds through the Hewitt Union ballroom as they wait to vote. From campaigning for candidates to raising awareness to voting for the first time, many students were involved in the election process this year.

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