From Biden to Bono, Arlington Heights teen recounts trip to State of the Union
On Tuesday morning, Rolling Meadows High School sophomore Kate Foley was on her way to the airport listening to U2 and its lead singer, Bono.
By Tuesday night, she was on a bus with him to the U.S. Capitol for the State of the Union address — both of them special guests of first lady Jill Biden.
Bono, the Dublin native and HIV/AIDS activist, sat front row in Biden's viewing box for her husband's address to Congress. But Foley, the 15-year-old Arlington Heights resident who met the first lady during an appearance at Rolling Meadows High School in November, sat right next to her for the duration of the speech.
“They had a full seating chart. As we walked in, it was like, 'You're going to be here and you're going to be here.' And we all sat down,” said Foley, who recounted experiences from her trip in an interview with the Daily Herald.
There was a lot of sitting and standing for applause lines during the president's speech that lasted an hour and 13 minutes. And there was the occasional whisper and small talk between Foley and Biden.
“She told me she liked my shoes,” Foley said of her new kicks. “After we stood up and sat down for like the 20th time, she was like, 'Those are probably smart.'”
The Arlington Heights teen was among 26 guests who got a close-up view of the speech — chosen “because they personify issues or themes” the president drew upon or that they “embody the Biden-Harris administration's policies at work for the American people,” White House officials said in a statement.
Foley participated in a roundtable with Jill Biden during a Nov. 14 visit to Rolling Meadows High School promoting apprenticeships and Northwest Suburban High School District 214's Career Pathways program, which provides students a chance to explore various careers through specialized courses and workplace experiences. Foley is taking computer-integrated manufacturing classes at school and wants to be a biomedical engineer.
Before all the guests boarded the bus to the Capitol Tuesday night, they dined together at the White House. Foley and her mother, Dana, sat with Doug Griffin of Newton, New Hampshire, who lost his 20-year-old daughter, Courtney, to a fentanyl overdose; Holocaust survivor Ruth Cohen of Rockville, Maryland; and Jacki Liszak, president and CEO of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce, who dealt with storm damage from Hurricane Ian in Florida.
Dana Foley said the dichotomy between many of the guests and her daughter became apparent.
“Kate was there for a very happy, uplifting reason,” she said. “And we were with a group of people who had been there because of a lot of sadness in their lives.”
But the group quickly developed a rapport — “all laughing and talking and super-sweet to each other,” Kate said. And they helped calm each other's fears about being in the spotlight on the national stage.
“I was really nervous at first,” Kate said. “Then as it went on and I got to see how nervous the other guests were as well, I calmed down a little bit.”
She got to meet Joe Biden and chatted with Bono, though admits she didn't know of the U2 frontman until after the guest list came out Monday.
“Everybody was very excited about Bono,” Dana said.
“And then there was me and another 23-year-old and we were like, 'We don't know who that is,'” Kate joked.
And after listening to U2 for the first time, she told her mom, “This music's really good for older music.”
After spending Wednesday on a speed tour of Washington sites and museums, mother and daughter were back in town Thursday, when Kate was presented a certificate of recognition at the District 214 board meeting.
Said board President Bill Dussling: “My goodness, what a thrill for that young lady. And her mother.”