This weekend, more than one million people took to the streets across the United States to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump, according to an article by CNN. The Women’s March on Washington was held alongside countless other “sister marches” in cities across the country, including New York City. We spoke with a number of Stony Brook students and students from various other colleges who attended the marches to ask what they thought of the experience. Quotes have been edited for grammar and length.

I thought the march was awesome, just seeing all these people come together for a common cause. It didn’t matter what your gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity was. It was a place where everyone belonged and could share their ideas and fears with one another. 

– Alicia Bermudez, senior, journalism. 

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I was really nervous, but everyone was so supportive and respectful. I loved looking around, seeing families and so many kids. It gave me hope for the future. Not once did I feel unsafe; there was just way too much love.

– Emily Hard, junior, Suffolk County Community College. 

We got into D.C. and the metro was packed. You had to wait to get down the escalator just to get onto the train platform. It was just in total gridlock, so many people there, and it was beautiful.

– Sarah Eller, senior, political science.

Going into this protest, I had no intentions of stopping Trump’s presidency and neither did the people around me. Protesting, for me and all the people I met, was protesting against the hate and ignorance that Trump has spread. Trump isn’t our country. The people at these protests are, and it’s truly inspirational and eye-opening to see so many people feel so enraged about a president

– Will Burger, senior, Guilderland High School.

I decided to go because I felt it was important to support a cause you believe in, which in my case was reproductive rights and provisions aided through the ACA [Affordable Care Act]. It was also incredible to see the protests in person rather than just on TV.  I think it showed how incredible a movement can be and what it means to be a part of history.

– Shaminy Anne, senior, Emory University.

I decided to go to the march in Montpelier [Vermont] expecting to see a few hundred young women walking together. … There ended up being over 20,000 people of all gender identities, races, levels of physical abilities and religions marching together. We feel misrepresented and taken advantage of by a group of government leaders that are supposed to be your advocates. The most unsuspecting people from all walks of life provide support.

– Mimi Falcone, junior, University of Vermont.

It was really beautiful to just take in the sheer size of the crowd. I mean it was like 500,000, who came from all around the states as well as internationally with so much love for one another. It was honestly kinda overwhelming. For many of us, it was the first time we attended a protest, and the fact that so many people thought, “OK, this is crazy,” and came out of their houses to voice that says a lot. Our voices are dead because we were chanting for six hours straight.

– Zolboo Bold-Erdene, junior, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.