Caroline Laurin and Alison Smith in Washington on Jan. 20.
courtesy of cbc

WASHINGTON – Humber grad Caroline Laurin was in the thick of the crowd on Jan. 20, working for CBC  News to chronicle Barack Obama’s historic inauguration as president of the United States.

“We wanted to capture the looks on people’s faces when he was speaking, just to register that emotion, to capture the feelings,” said Laurin, who was producing for reporter Alison Smith at the National Mall that day. “It was amazing, just amazing to be a part of.”

Laurin’s journey into the political universe began at Humber.

She graduated from the post-grad journalism program in 2005 while  already working for CBC in Toronto. She quickly moved on to the network’s Ottawa bureau where she became immersed in Canadian politics before moving to Washington last May.

Laurin’s first big assignment was covering Hillary Clinton’s sputtering campaign with Smith at a rally in Louisville, Ky.

“Bill Clinton came out and it hit me – holy crap, not only am I here, I’ll be covering it to the end.”

While working with CBC reporter Laurie Graham in Chicago’s Grant Park, hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate Obama’s election on Nov. 4. Laurin was about 60 metres from where Obama and his family would take the stage and wow the crowd.

“I remember being crammed in by the people, just hearing this roar when he was announced as president – people screaming and celebrating all over – it was infectious,” she recalled.

“This was by far the coolest experience of my entire life.”

Laurin will remain on the Obama beat as the he begins his first 100 days as president. She hopes to get back on the road to see him.

“Now that the fun stuff is over, we have the first 100 days of the presidency, which are always the most telling and most trying,” she said. “We’re going to be following him for the next little while, hopefully doing some other stories that come up and that involve some travel.”