An area high school student will soon be taking a trip to Washington to take part in the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, and, believe it or not, she had her ticket to the coveted event locked in before we even knew Barack Obama would be taking over the Oval Office.

Merrill High School sophomore Maria Schmelling of Tomahawk has been selected from a pool of students who attended the National Youth Leaders State Conference to take part in the five-day Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference.

January 17th she will be taking off for Washington D.C. where she will take part in the inaugural parade, the Black Tie Inaugural Ball, and roundtable discussions.

Maria first got her acceptance letter for the program back in March. She says she was incredibly excited knowing she would be taking part in such a historic event, but that only recently has it sunk in how big this year’s inauguration really is. Her experiences will be ones she’ll share with family and friends for the rest of her life.

Although she says she’s worked hard to earn this opportunity, she couldn’t have made it to the inauguration on her own.

Her 8th grade English teacher, Margaret Oestrich, nominated her to take part in NYLSC in the first place.

“She’s the one who got me into all this,” Maria said. “I’m very grateful for that.”

Maria says she’s looking forward to the Black Tie Inaugural Ball the most. She’s also hoping she has the chance to meet Barack Obama and is looking forward to listening to keynote speaker Al Gore.