Early Wednesday morning, the Unites States made history when it elected Barack Obama as the 44th president. As soon as the major news networks projected Obama as the winner, students all over campus cheered and celebrated, though there were a few dejected faces that had hoped for a McCain victory.

There were cheers of “Yes we can,” car horns blasting, stereos blaring, beer cans popping and students running throughout the residential side of campus. Outside the campus walls, fireworks lit the sky while one student living in a house just off campus sprayed champagne all over his front porch chanting the same refrain introduced during the president-elect’s concession speech after the New Hampshire primary all those months ago.

When Obama took the stage at Grant Park in Chicago to deliver his acceptance speech to speak to 250,000 people in person and the rest of the world by TV, radio or the Internet, he changed the world.

The massive crowd at Grant Park reflected the coalition that brought Obama to the doorstep of the White House, and he recognized them all by name-young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. “Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America,” he said.

Obama’s election, coupled with the six seats the Democrats captured in the Senate and the 19 seats won in the House, means the Democrats created a mandate that Republicans only dreamed of having when they won the White House eight years ago.

Such a decisive victory would never have been achieved, though, without the legwork, grit, determination, blood, sweat and tears of young people organizing and getting out the vote in battleground states, including 50 from the University.

Many college-aged people were voting for the first time in this election, and early exit polling showed that first-time voters broke overwhelmingly for Obama over McCain by nearly a 3-1 margin. More exit polls showed that 68 percent of voters age 18 to 24 chose Obama over 30 percent for McCain. In the 25 to 29 age range, voters went 69 percent to 29 percent in Obama’s favor.

The next four years will be a new start; a time for change. And now we wait and see what will happen during the 44th president’s time in office.