HONOLULU -- At University of Hawaii Manoa Tuesday students cheered, and stood and sang the national anthem along with President Barack Obama.

At the UH campus center a big screen TV was set up with continuous coverage starting at 6 a.m.

"I just wanted to see the inauguration and speech because it is so historical to have the first African-American president and I didn't want to miss it while being here at college," said student Jessica Gaytan.

"I've never actually seen an inauguration before. This is my first one. I thought I might just drop in and take a look. I'm really proud of what happened," said student Carla Lindstrom.

Political observers said it's been a long time since students were so interested and involved.

"I've been here a long time and the students seemed to be much more caught up in it, more involved, applause, people stood up when he was sworn in and they stood up and sang the national anthem. There's more optimism and less skepticism about politics around here," said UH professor Neal Milner.

"The inauguration of Barack Obama is really exciting he's sounds like he's a really big breath of fresh air to America and I think he has a big exciting agenda. I'm looking forward to what he's doing," said student Matthew Olsen.

Some watched while they ate. Others studied but kept one eye on history.

"I think we'll just have to see what happens in the next four years. How he's going to affect our country as a whole," said student Chris Okamura.