Harleen Grewal moved to the United States from India in 2008. Five years later, she got her U.S. citizenship, and 11 years after that, she’s at her first Republican National Convention.
The owner of Skyline Smiles off of Plum Canyon Road, Grewal said she moved to the U.S. because she “wanted to go to bigger things in life.”
“I came here by myself. I told my parents, ‘Peace out. I’m going to America,’” Grewal said in a phone interview while at the RNC in Milwaukee.
Like her journey to America, Grewal chose to travel to Milwaukee for the 2024 convention by herself. But after just two days there, she said she’s made hundreds of friends.
The highlight of the convention thus far for her was when former President Donald Trump entered the room on Monday, just two days after an assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that saw Trump’s right ear wounded.
“I honestly could feel the energy in that room (Monday) when President Trump walked in,” Grewal said. “It was crazy.”
When asked what makes being at a convention like this so special, Grewal said it’s the diversity of the people in the crowd, all of whom are there for a common purpose.
“You should see all the different kinds of diversity and ethnicities and people from all walks of life that are here at the convention, either as a delegate, an alternate delegate, a guest speaker,” Grewal said. “It’s just so uniting and bringing us together.”
Much of the convention is mingling with other attendees, she said, though there are portions where she gets to meet some of the higher-ups in the Republican Party. On Tuesday morning, she said she attended a brunch with Eric Trump and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Other events she was looking forward to are trips to the Harley-Davidson Museum, a farmer’s market and, to top everything off, former President Trump’s planned speech on Thursday.
And if she ever needs someone to talk to, Grewal said she has gained a whole new group of friends to lean on.
“It seems like we knew each other forever because we’re there with the same goals and same alignment of mindset and thought,” Grewal said. “So, it’s just amazing to be around the same group of people.”
