The night before Barack Obama was inaugurated as our 44th president, I hopped in a cab near the Lincoln Memorial with Daily photographers Jon Lemons and Rashah McChesney. The driver was a young man from Pakistan who came to the United States with a degree in accounting, hoping to attend graduate school.

Despite the fact that American graduate schools have proven to be too expensive for the taxi driver, he still told us about his hope for this country.

Of the influx of visitors to the city for the inauguration, the young man said he had never seen such diversity in Washington. He called it a “god-given miracle.” This taxi driver also expressed his hope that Obama could further the cause for world peace, telling us that many Pakistanis feel the same way about this change of power.

The taxi driver’s hope was a trait encountered many times in D.C. Even en route to our security checkpoints on Inauguration Day, there was a sense of wonder and anticipation. Around 6 AM, we bought hot apple cider from a little girl and her mother, who happened to be perched on a prime piece of Inauguration Day real estate.

As I handed the young girl her 50 cents, her eyes sparkled in a way that said, “Something is happening today.” Maybe she couldn’t fully comprehend it – but she seemed aware of how special this day was.

The city came alive in an unprecedented fashion, bustling with inauguration festivities – from free concerts to inaugural balls to special outdoor productions of MSNBC shows on the Capitol Mall, it was nearly impossible to walk a block in Washington without getting a sense of the excitement surrounding this momentous occasion.

Iowa State graduate Katie McNitt, now working in D.C., said the city had “never seen these crowds.” However, despite the crush of people, “people have been in generally good spirits.” Welcoming a president with an 83 percent approval rating of his handling of the presidential transition (according to a Jan. 16 Gallup Poll), it’s not surprising that the people of Washington are happy.

But what happens after the Lincoln Bible is put away and the crowds have dispersed? Can the city retain the hope that was injected into its heart and soul by the words “Yes We Can,” to see if we, in fact, will?

The parades are now over. Coffee dates between past and present first and second families are done. Walking along the streets of D.C. in the evening, you will no longer see throngs of people dressed up for those fancy balls.

What’s next?

Replace those elegant street scenes with the vision of a bustling city struggling with unemployment levels of approximately 8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a city with an unemployment level higher than the national average – but we don’t think of that as we admire the illuminated monuments and gaze at the men in tuxedos accompanying women in furs.

President Obama said in his inaugural address that we have gathered “because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” But what is our purpose, and how do we maintain unity in achieving it?

We must not forget that America is a land glued together by the dedication of hardworking people. As Abraham Lincoln said, “The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds.” This is an unwavering unity – unwavering until threatened by the axe of unemployment.

President Obama expressed a similar sentiment on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts … It has not been the path … for those who prefer leisure over work … Rather, it has been … the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.”

Our nation rests on the brink of economic catastrophe. Combined with two wars, shaky foreign relations, and a power transition, this economic downturn has sent us into an unsettling state of uncertainty.

It would be easy to choose not to care, and leave the worrying to the older and more experienced in the machinery of politics.

How about Rush Limbaugh? He’s experienced, right? Limbaugh was recently quoted, in response to an inquiry into his hope for the Obama presidency, as saying:

“I hope he fails.”

It’s one thing to disagree with a president’s politics.

To hope for a president’s failure is to hope for the failure of every effort for economic recovery and national security he attempts to implement.

It’s time to get down to business. Not just for the Obama administration – for everyone. We must work to ensure the well being of this nation now to preserve it in the long run. For many of us who voted for the first time in 2008, this is our first investment in government. We must set a steady course for our adult lives, because they will arrive sooner than we think.

The reconstruction of America requires a massive amount of dedication – especially from young adults who can invest in the future. We must lay the framework now to build a better tomorrow.

The closing remarks of President Obama’s inaugural address provide us with the best course of action with which to start:

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

Jessica Opoien is a freshman in English and pre-journalism and mass communications from Marinette, Wisc.