Tomica Blocker, second-year medical student, wasn't having the best of days when she finally arrived at KU School of Medicine-Wichita on Jan. 21. Her car was in the shop, she missed a bus connection, and finally decided to walk to campus from the downtown transit center lugging two laptops.

Karen Drake, assistant director of student affairs, soon turned Blocker's day around when she asked, "Do you want to see President Obama speak tomorrow in Lawrence?"

"Heck, yeah," replied Blocker. "That changed my whole day. I was on cloud nine."

Blocker and fourth-year medical student Armando Villanueva, along with students from other KU campuses, attended the president's Jan. 22 speech at Anschutz Sports Pavilion. The stop was one of several the president made the week following his State of the Union speech.  

Blocker got up at 3:15 a.m. to reach Lawrence at the requested time, four hours ahead of Obama's speech, to be cleared by security.  

Her family had ideas of what Blocker could discuss with the president if she had the opportunity. "My dad wanted me to talk to him about the cost of prescriptions. My mom just wanted me to tell him hi and that she loved him."  

She didn't get close enough for a chat, but she and the other students were close to him, standing on a stage behind the president.  

Sharing a stage with Obama, who was under the scrutiny of thousands of people and a media contingent, was a bit strange. "Everyone in the crowd was just looking at us. It was disconcerting initially. I was thinking, 'I could be on TV, and I hope I'm not fidgeting.'"  

Obama's speech about the middle class and economics resonated with her, particularly the topic of child care. "I was impressed that he started off with that, that he wants to have the provision of child care, that he considers it a family problem. I know a lot of families that have struggled with that."  

She was drawn to Obama's personality as well. "You see him on TV and he's so charismatic. That's amplified in person - he's so down to earth. His charisma was evident."

"This is at the very top of my experiences," Blocker said. "It was a major thing, as an American and young person, but as a black American, it was amazing."