State Representative Jermaine Johnson

 After our lunch at a beautiful public park, we headed back to the SCDP to speak with State Rep. Johnson. He had to be my absolute favorite speaker of our trip (which is saying a lot considering how amazing our speaker lineup was). He told us about his life and how he struggled to prosper and succeed. I found him to be incredibly inspirational in the way he spoke to us, encouraging us to pursue change and ambition: 

"You can be me, and you can surpass me."

Much like U.S. Rep. Clyburn, he had a lot of specific advice for those of us who wanted to pursue electoral politics:

"Be the Representative before you're the Representative," advising us to get to know our communities and what they need before we make assumptions about it. 

He also talked at length about discourse and conversation with people who don't agree with us, telling us to challenge ourselves by controlling angry reflexes when we hear something that we think of as wrong. Before entering into conversation, he said we should always ask ourselves, "do you really want to see change?" before we speak. Kindness, empathy, and humility are necessary for productive dialogue:

"Don't be afraid to change when you get new information."

He had many words of encouragement for us to move forward with, and many of his words I think will stick with me for years to come and through my professional political pursuits. 

"Stop waiting for your turn. Your turn is now."