After the cold, crowds and 300-mile journey, after the missed classes and made-up homework, Jacqueline Feldman ’12 said she felt her trip to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration of President Barack Obama was worth it.

“There was such a palpable sense of excitement about what is generally a new era in American politics and government,” she said.

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Feldman stood Tuesday on the National Mall with scores of other Yalies, most of whom the News interviewed would have made the trip again were the inauguration tomorrow — albeit somewhat grudgingly.

Tuesday, Feldman said she could feel the emotions of the crowd. The nearly two million inauguration-goers “cooed” over Obama’s daughters —Malia and Sasha — and jeered outgoing President George W. Bush ’68 by singing “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”

Kevin Hoffman ’12 echoed Feldman’s sentiments.

“Layers — it’s all about the layers,” he said.

Travis Ing ’12 “couldn’t miss” the inauguration — after all, he went to Obama’s high school, Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. And given the 300-mile distance between Washington and New Haven, compared to the thousands of miles from Washington to Hawaii, Ing said making the trip was an easy decision.

Many students who attended did not have tickets, but Ing held a coveted seating pass for the blue area near the Capitol. Still, Ing wound up cutting through crowds and pressing toward the gate.

“The crowd control was virtually non-existent,” Ing said. “There were thousands of us who couldn’t get in.

Even so, the experience trumped all.

“It was all worth it in the end,” Taylor said.

Reporting was contributed by Raphael Shapiro, Rustin Fakheri, Eva Galvan and Jessica Letchford.