It was 2007, a little under a year away from the very memorable 2008 presidential election. It was a very chilly, winter evening in Los Angeles (the temps were in the high 40s!!), I was cozied up on the couch with my then boyfriend watching the political debates. These debates were before the primaries. It was pretty much the first time I had ever paid real, lasting attention to any type of political debate in my life, they had always seemed so boring before.

It seemed exciting this time and there was a charge in the air. Maybe it was for the same reasons that so many others were fascinated with the election that year - the fact that Barack Obama was running for president. Hilary Clinton made it interesting as well. The possibility of either America's first black president or first woman president was alluring. Plus, there was the big housing crash that had just occurred and spiraled so many people into financial ruin.