WASHINGTON–People of all ages at American University are celebrating the Fourth of July with some excited and others indifferent.
For some people Fourth of July is a big deal. Laura Dmesey, 49, works at the Subway on campus. Dmesey plans on partaking in a cookout with her family in Maryland. Instead of watching fireworks at the National Mall, she’s buying her own to set off in the backyard.
Some people have different ways of celebrating. A student at AU, biting an apple by the front desk in Anderson Hall, said she was excited to crash at her friend’s house in the city. Nineteen-year-old, Barbara Martinez, is a rising sophomore from Northern Virginia and is ready to get off work to tour the Capital and relax in the heat.
Martinez, for example, believes that the Fourth of July is a time to celebrate American pride, nationality and egotism. Others see the great holiday as nothing more than a excuse to party. In fact according to 15-year-old New Jersey native, Ashley Fowler, July Fourth is one of America’s drunkest holidays.
“I feel that it’s like a fun holiday, but I don’t actually find it to be that important,” Fowler said.
Brendan Ryan, 17, was sitting at the Starbucks waiting to get picked up by his family. For him, Fourth of July is just another day. He normally spends his time with his family, watching the fireworks, and eating food. Ryan says that for him, Independence Day is no big deal, just a silly tradition.
Assistant Director of Discover the World of Communication Tony Cohn begs to differ. Cohn, 21, has always thought of our nation’s birthday as a “patriotic holiday,” a time when everyone of every race can get together to celebrate unity and tradition.
Every year Cohn takes the students of DWC to the National Mall, in front of the Lincoln Memorial. There, they do it all: from playing soccer on the grass, to visiting museums.
“It’s a fun Washington D.C. experience,” Cohn said.
Here in D.C. visiting the National Mall seems to be the most popular thing to do, according to those interviewed Wednesday. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the mall each year to watch the closing fireworks. It’s an all day event and many of the monuments close before 5 p.m. That way people have more room to camp out.
“You can’t see the ground because of so many people,” Cohn explained. “There’s so much energy that’s so crazy, it’s indescribable.
You’re celebrating the nation’s birthday at the nation’s capital on the national mall. There’s something so special and so much novelty behind that.”