Roughly eight years ago, I did something crazy. I was a college first-year. I was supposed to be planning that whole “WooHoo! Spring Breaaaaak!” trip. But instead, I decided to go to Philadelphia to be a “Spring-tern” for then-Senator Barack Obama. It was a decision that would change my life.

The people I met on that trip convinced me that the 2008 election was too important to sit out, too important to stay at school. My advisors at Barnard agreed and pushed me to take a semester off and go work to elect the man who would become our first African-American president.

Tonight, eight years later, I watch our president give his last State of the Union. And I can’t help but be nostalgic and proud of how much progress has happened over the last eight years.

Over the last eight years, I’ve poured my life into electing this man and other elected officials who support his policies. I’ve gone from Field Organizer to Regional Field Director to Political Director to Data Training Manager. These have been simultaneously the most challenging, the most trying, the most rewarding, the most fulfilling eight years.

As I’m watching the State of the Union right now, I’m so proud to have been even a small part of electing President Obama. It’s been an awesome eight years, and I’m pretty excited to see where the next eight lead me.