On Friday, Jan. 15th, Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States, made an appearance at Northwest Junior High to speak about his wife Hillary’s campaign in hopes of garnering support as the Iowa caucus nears.

Clinton lighted on topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement, gun violence, affordable healthcare and education, as well as the depths of Hillary’s experience in the political arena, lauding Hillary’s merits to over 400 attendees.  He said several times in his speech “She’s the single best change maker I’ve ever met in my life” to hearty applause.

Several West High students were in attendance and offered their thoughts on the event.

“[I’m here because] it’s a great experience … to come to a political event; I’ve never been to one, and they only happen once every four years,” said David Wang ’17.

Nina Bernat ’18 agreed with Wang, adding “[I want to hear] some stuff that would convince me of Hillary’s campaign, and also learn what he thinks Hillary is capable of, from his standpoint.”

Yiwen Gao ’17, a volunteer for the Hillary campaign, also offered her opinion.

“[I want to find out] if he has any plans for being first man,” Gao said.

Emma Petersen ’17 had slightly more personal reasons for showing up to the event.

“I came here, actually, just to get a photo with Bill,” Petersen said.  “Ten years ago, my mom took me to see Bill when he was in Solon and I got a photo with him, and I’m hoping to get another one.  [This may seem a little strange] because I’m a Republican.”

Mohamed Abdelrahman ’16 and Bryan Martinez ’16 left the WSS with some parting words as they finished their quote-gathering cycle before the event.

“I want to be in person to see OG Billy,” Martinez said, “and get a selfie with him.”

“I’m just here for gov extra credit,” Abdelrahman said.

Photos by Eleanor Ho