Last summer, I met President Barack Obama.
My journey began in June at Palmetto Boys State. PBS is a weeklong mock state government and leadership development program sponsored by the American Legion. The program was held at Anderson University and was home to over 1,000 rising high school seniors from across the state! Here, I was elected City Mayor as well as County Superintendent of Education. The week was phenomenal and empowering. I made relationships with the young men in my "city" that will truly last a lifetime. At the end of the week I was chosen by my consolers to sit before the directors and staff members of the program for the Boys Nation senator interview. I was one of eight delegates to sit for this interview and was ultimately chosen along with Max Parsons, (ironically, a Princeton '20 classmate of mine) to represent our State at BOYS NATION.
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July 17th, 2015, I arrived in Washington DC, for a week that would shape me. The prestigious Boys Nation program is home to 98 Senators, two from every state (except Hawaii). The week was similar to Boys State, but was very intense, political, and was set up to simulate the Federal Government. As senators, we were each required to submit either a bill or resolution to be introduced, debated, and voted upon during our senate hearings throughout the week. This was a very cool aspect of the week: hearing different perspectives and ideas from different states about issues that we, as youth wanted to see changed in America.
From the beginning of the week, we were divided into two political parties: The Nationalists, and the Federalists. We were then tasked with developing a party platform as well as electing a party Convention Chairman. I was fortunate enough to be elected as the Nationalist Party Convention Chairman. As the Chairman, I helped to develop our stances on political issues as a group, run our party conventions, and ensure that our Presidential nominee won the general election…which he did.
Over the week I learned a lot about our government, gained a new sense of patriotism, and became a more reflective and insightful person myself. On top of all that, I made even more lifelong friendships. From the young men in my section of 24 to the counselors and staff, to the directors of the program themselves, the individuals at Boys Nation were diverse, open-minded, knowledgeable, kind, and all-around fun to be with. My roommate and I even went into business with each other and founded our men's fashion company, Pugh, and Latham, LLC (www.pughandlatham.com).
Oh…. and did I mention, I met President Obama?
Well, I did. On Monday, July 20, 2015 I met the most powerful man in the World, President Barack Obama. We came into the White House Monday morning, smiles bright, heads held high, and excitement boiling. Not only were we meeting the President of the United States, but we were about to meet the first African-American President of the United States.
As we stood there, waiting for President Obama to enter the room, you could literally hear a pin drop in the room. THEN we heard him, President Obama entered the room and we all lit up like a Christmas trees. President Obama then spoke to us as a group, encouraging us to be leaders in our communities and to seek out ways to get involved in the political system. His time with us was brief but impactful. Before he left, he shook each of our hands.
What was I to do!? To say!? How was I to stand!? The anticipation was surreal as he made his way down the line of Boys Nation Senators.
When he made it to me, I shook his hand,thanked him for his words at Rev. Clementa Pinckney’s Funeral here in Charleston as well as for his recent work with incarceration reform. It was unreal. I quickly realized that The President of the United States of America was in front of me. Overall, I only had about seven seconds with him, but I was fortunate to hold him long enough for one of the White House photographers to snap a photo of the moment.
This moment will always be one that will follow me throughout my life. I have been blessed beyond belief with such an opportunity and have been further encouraged to come back to my community and help those around me achieve the same.
Pictured on left: (soon to be) President Bill Clinton meeting President Kennedy at Boys Nation in 1963.
