I’ve attended two events featuring “The Donald”. Why? Well, it’s certainly not because I support him, since I feel the Bern. It’s more from a combination of coincidence, free entry, and entertainment value.

It all began in June of 2015 when I was on a trip to New York City with my high school choir and our orchestra. We had a day for tourist activities, and our small group decided to start the day at Tiffany’s. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it hadn’t opened, but being the adventurous group that we were, we decided to poke around the area -- it being Fifth Avenue and all -- and the next building over happens so be one certain Trump Tower. Now, I’d been to Trump Tower on a couple of previous trips to New York, but only to stop in for bathroom breaks. However, this time, a flock of men in suits were standing outside and people wearing matching t-shirts and holding signs were streaming in. Our group wandered over.

We had plans for lunch in Chelsea and were planning the afternoon down in the Battery Park area, so we asked one of the men in suits for how long this event was slated to last. He wouldn’t tell us specifically what was going on, but told us to expect Donald in an hour. Even though he wouldn’t come out and tell us, it was really obvious that Trump was announcing his run for the presidency. The XL t-shirts that were being handed out like candy sported “TRUMP” and underneath that, “Make America Great Again” (or, as I now call it, Make America Hate Again). Signs said the same.

So, being curious, we decided to stay and watch. How often do you randomly stumble upon a thing such as this? Well, all of us in the group are from Iowa, so maybe that question doesn’t quite apply to us, but still. We decided to go in and asked Suit-Guy for shirts and signs. Then, we told him that we were all from Iowa and that this would be our first election. (If you ever want to get preferential treatment at a political event, tell the people in charge that you’re from Iowa.) He immediately escorted us to a special waiting area.

The next hour was a giant hype session. A man screaming through a megaphone ran up and down the lobby, leading cheers of “Who do we want?” “TRUMP!” “When do we want him?” “NOW!”. Classic rock blared through the speakers (although it was the same five songs). Media swarmed around like mosquitoes in a blood bank. Finally, the orange man of the hour descended in his golden elevator and walked by, shaking some of our hands and walking halfway into my selfie (Melania stayed in).

Ivanka, Trump’s daughter, spoke first, building the hype even higher. Of course, there was a rundown of his success, his vision, and his fame. But there was one thing that Ivanka said that stuck in my brain: “My father is the opposite of politically correct. He says what he means, and he means what he says.” Of course, at this time, none of us could have predicted that he would be the Republican frontrunner almost 11 months later. All of the media sources said that he’d be out of the race in the middle of autumn because he would have to show his personal finances… or that no one would take him seriously as a candidate because he has no political experience.

Then, Donald Trump himself started speaking. It didn’t take him long to launch into all of the problems that he believes exist in this country. Right after he uttered those infamous soundbites about Mexicans, we left. We had New York to explore, and we had already spent about an hour and a half there.

That evening, someone showed me an article in The Atlantic. Towards the bottom, I saw my name.

OK, to be fair, I don’t remember saying that, but any number of media sources could have caught me saying something far more embarrassing, so I’m good with it.

Over the summer, Trump’s campaign and fan base grew exponentially. He was succeeding in polls. He came to Iowa a number of times. He spurted accusatory remarks like a broken sprinkler. While some grew to admire him for his candor, the rest of us grew fearful of his words.

Then, as February 1 rolled around, Trump was still in the race. All signs pointed to him winning the Republican caucus vote in Iowa. I’m registered to vote at home, but not with either party -- and one must be, if they wish to caucus. What’s more, I transferred colleges. Butler University is almost eight hours away from West Des Moines, Iowa, the caucus was on a Monday night, and I don’t have a car at school. So, there I was, tracking the results from Indianapolis, hoping that my fellow Iowans wouldn’t screw up. Trump, along with Carly Fiorina (at this point, she was in the race for herself, not as Cruz’s VP pick) were in the Parish Hall of my church, in the very room where I gave my senior vocal recital. Let me tell you, that’s a weird feeling.

Cruz won Iowa, but only by about three percent. It didn’t seem that Trump was shaken. He continued to win caucuses and primaries around the country, leading the Republicans by increasing margins. Last week, Ted Cruz and John Kasich said that they would work together to create a contested convention. John Kasich cancelled his event in Indiana on April 19th, which my friends and I were planning to attend for a break from finals. Then, one of my friends texted me, saying only, “Would you like a cultural experience?” and sending a link underneath it. I opened the link to see “Fox News Town Hall with Donald Trump and Greta van Susteren." I’ve never clicked faster than while I raced to reserve a free ticket.

So, three of us drove to downtown Indy and got in line at 1:45 p.m., behind a woman in an embroidered cap that bore the words “Make America Great Again,” those same four words that we’ve all heard so many times since last June. Almost immediately, we were swarmed by three men in their late forties or early fifties. “You don’t look like Trump supporters,” they said. One of my friends and I turned to ignore them, trying to hide our giggles, as we’re both Bernie fans and weren’t looking to be publicly executed outside of a Jimmy John’s. Our other friend jumped in and discussed politics freely with them. Eventually, all three of us were in the conversation with these men who had left work early to see their chosen candidate. There were uncomfortable moments where I bit my tongue, but it helped pass the time, as we didn’t get inside the theater for well over an hour. Once we sat down, we still had another hour to kill, so I texted my family that I was there. They had a number of suggestions as to stunts that I should pull, but all of them would have gotten me kicked out (though they were truly spectacular).

A man from Fox News came out onto the stage and did a rundown of a couple of rules -- no using your cell phone, and no chewing gum if you were one of the lucky 30 to 40 seated on the stage. Essentially, he reminded the audience that this was a Fox News Town Hall, not a Donald Trump event. However, this was a concept that the rest of the audience didn’t really seem to understand.

The entire time that cameras were on, the audience seemed to think that it was a Trump rally, not a Fox News Town Hall. Cheers included “Build that wall,” “Trump for president," “We love you, Donald,” and a number of things shouted from the back that weren’t intelligible from the front, but were frustrating, nonetheless. Both Donald and Greta had to stop multiple times to wait for the people to stop, which interrupted the process many times. As these people were his fans, you would think that they would want to listen to him, but this was not the case.

As for me, what did I do? Well, I mostly sat and observed. There were many standing ovations given for soundbites that the audience approved of. I sat for each of them except for one, which was given to honor a combat veteran. He said, “When I heard the other day, I heard President Obama say, ‘The single greatest threat to our country is global warming,’ and I said, ‘Was he serious? Was he being serious?’ and the big threat we have is global warming, but it’s of the nuclear variety. That’s the biggest threat we have.” The audience ate it up. I figured that it was just a positive thing that he didn’t bring up his old fight about Obama’s birth certificate.

So, overall, what are my big takeaways from two events featuring “the Donald?”

1. You should vote for someone else.
2. He’s more orange in person.