More than two dozen Cal High students witnessed history last month when President Donald J. Trump was sworn into office as the 45th president.

The trip, which was from Jan. 19-22, was advertised at Cal during the second semester of last year and caught the interest of  26 students, who paid $2,000 for the trip.

Friday, Jan. 20, was dedicated to attending the inauguration event. Chaperoned by social studies teacher Hannah Cheng and world geography teacher Jessica Carvalheira,  the teachers had planned on getting seats, but decided against it.

“We were pretty far down [the mall] and could only see the screens,” said  freshman Ananya Agastheeswaran.

From that day on the trip was a whirlwind.

“We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast, and were on the move everyday. It was a lot of walking,” said  Agastheeswaran, who  still thought  the trip was a great experience.

“Definitely something I won’t forget,” she said.

Many of the students were excited for the experience and decided to attend in hopes of learning more about their country.

“The inauguration taught me a lot about what we’ve learned in class all these years,” said sophomore Peter Vannucchi. “It was nice to be in the presence of history.”

Many of the students agreed that the controversy after the inauguration speech and crowd size was accurate, but said it didn’t affect their overall experience or view on the trip.

“There was plenty of room to walk around,” said freshman Donya Neghabat.

She was also surprised by how diverse the sparse crowd was. Neghabat said the crowd was not just Trump supporters.

The trip also included three days of visiting various destinations in Washington, D.C., including the Lincoln Memorial, MLK Memorial, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, Smithsonian, and the Holocaust Museum.

Cal was accompanied by Ruth Asawa School of Arts in San Francisco.

“There were only about four or five of them with us, but I liked being able to share the experience with people we didn’t know,” said freshman Clarissa Mendoza.

Although the students were not able to be involved in the Women’s March the day after the inauguration, there was no chance of avoiding it.

“We couldn’t participate because our group was too big and we couldn’t split up,” said Agastheesaran.

Many of the members of the Cal contingent wanted to march, and were inspired by the massive demonstration.

The small group of students from the Ruth Asawa School were able to participate in the women’s march.

“We walked along the crowds and never felt like we were in danger, which was really nice,” said Cheng.

On the plane ride home, the students encountered many Women’s March participants.

Four years ago, many upperclassmen had the opportunity to go to Barack Obama’s second inauguration when a similar trip was offered at local middle schools.

“My brother went to Obama’s inauguration when he was in eighth grade and said it was really cool” said freshman Jesse Rettig, who wanted the same opportunity as his older brother.

The trip was approved by the district early last year because it  believed students did not have the opportunity to witness such a historic event very often.

“It didn’t hit us until later but this will be in history textbooks 30 years from now,” said  Agastheesaran. “It was a fun experience.”