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You'll remember last Friday we caught up with some students at the Illinois School for the Deaf before they hit the road for the inauguration.

The ISD group of 18 students and 8 staff members arrived back home Wednesday after what they call the the trip of a lifetime.

You'll remember students followed the campaign from the beginning, and last summer, a couple of them pushed through a crowd to try to meet their candidate.

The bus ride Saturday was a long one but students with the Illinois School for the Deaf packed enough enthusiasm for the 44th president's inauguration.

ISD student Marcos Rodriguez said, "I witnessed history, the first black president and it was awesome, he had his hand on Lincoln's bible."

But before they could watch president Obama take the oath of office, they had to navigate their way through what you could call an ocean of people.

ISD student Amanda Gean said, "I was paniced, we had to hold onto one another."

ISD student Leonor Reategui said, "It seemed like an ocean.  You look back and can't see the end of it."

ISD student Pauline Widurski said, "I could see many emotions, some people were yes, yes."

But despite the crowds, student Amanda Gean who supported Obama from the beginning of his campaign and her friends from ISD made it here to the silver section in front of the first jumbo tron screen where they could watch history being made.

Gean said, "I feel we were apart of this inauguration."

ISD student Krystal Starks said, "I can't explain what I do feel. I saw it; I witnessed it. I was looking at Obama and he had Lincoln's bible. I'll never forget it." 

Pauline Widurski said, "I'm going to tell my grandchildren about my experience and they will look at me in awe and I will tell them I went to Washington, D.C. to see the president."

There's no doubt days like Tuesday are what memories are made of, but it brings with it a much needed lesson of hope for these students back at ISD.

What do you hope they took away?

Superintendent Marybeth Lauderdale said, "My hopes for them have already been realized. They are empowered and confident. I think Amanda said it best. They aren't invisible anymore. That's what its like because deafness is an invisible disability if you would call it a disability. They look like everyone else but they can't hear. Now they are empowered."

And that's a lesson these students will hopefully remember long after President Obama leaves office.