When Bria Nelson graduated from North Central High School she had no idea what she wanted to do in life. Instead of going to college, she decided to enlist in the Air Force and became a medic.
Ten years later, Nelson is now the non-commissioned officer in charge of the explorer family health element in Bolling Air Force Base Clinic in Washington, D.C.
“Being in the Air Force is perfect for me. I love it,” said Nelson.
She’s accomplished many things in her career, but she never thought she’d be able to dance with the president of the United States.
The Recorder sat down with Nelson and talked with her about being chosen to dance with President Barack Obama at the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball, part of his inaugural celebration.
How did this all begin?
Bria Nelson: My leadership at Bolling suggested I do this because of all the requirements needed for this opportunity. It was based on our deployments as well as our military history. All this information and our pictures were compiled – there were 50 candidates. We had interview processes and things like that.
What were the interviews like?
It was slightly stressful because you weren’t given all the information at one time. When I got an email saying I was going to have an interview the next day I thought “Oh, no biggie.” I thought it was a one-on-one interview and when I got there, it was 50 other people from all different branches. Then I thought, “Oh, I’m going up against 50 other people!” (laughs). The interview was by a board of senior enlisted military leaders from the different branches. They went through a series of questions like combat experience and volunteer efforts. From that, four of us were chosen, one from each service branch.
How’d they break the news to you that you were dancing with President Obama?
We were just talking about what we had to go through to be here, what we’d wear and then they were like “Oh, by the way, do you know who you’re dancing with?” And we were like, “No, we keep hearing different things.” They said “Oh, yes, you’re dancing with the president.” And I’m like “Can you repeat that?” It had to sink in. Once it did and they began telling me all the particulars I thought “Oh, my god! I’m dancing with the president.”
Tell me about the Commander-in-Chief’s ball.
It was simply beautiful. But they always do a great job honoring us from the different branches. It was really nice to see all the Marines, Army, Navy, Coast Guard and of course the Air Force in their semi formal uniforms. And the fact that we were honoring our commander-in-chief, that alone was great. You can’t put into words this kind of honor.
The world was watching this moment. Were you nervous?
I was, but I put it in the back of my mind. If I allowed that to come to the forefront, I would have probably passed out and you all would have never seen me dance. Luckily I met President and Mrs. Obama prior to the actual dance so that put me at ease. They are very nice, humble individuals. They were really sweet. I thought “That’s one task I can check off – I met the president.” My second task was “Bria, don’t fall down the stairs.”
Is President Obama a good dancer?
He’s a good dancer. He did mention to me before the dance “Hey, if I step on your feet, don’t mind me.” I was like “no problem sir, I gotcha!” I just thought “Don’t step on the president’s feet, but if he steps on mine, I will have these shoes forever.” But when I say they put you at ease, they really do. He’s not really stern or anything. They just talked about family, “Hey, where’re you from,” “is your husband here,” “what does your family think?” Before I knew it, the song’s over. I didn’t realize how deep our conversation was on TV and people were like, “What were you talking about! You were talking like you were old friends.” They get you talking naturally.
What’s the most memorable part of this experience?
Meeting the Obamas. Being in the military, we take an oath to follow orders that are given to us by our commander-in-chief. But to meet the person that you are supporting and defending everything that he’s putting out there, it’s remarkable. The dance put the icing on the cake but meeting them was just great.
