Not using my Degree
At one point in my life, I really wanted to work for the government. I want to make a difference. Politics has always been an interest for me. As I was growing up, I always remember my grandmother working almost every election. So when I became 18, it was important that I should be able to exercise my right to vote.
Art Doane, one of my high school teachers, also got my mind thinking about the current events of our time. He would always start the class off, with what was going on around us. I read the newspaper every day back then, and so I was part of the class exercise almost everyday. But what really did it for me was seeing, "Mr. Smith goes to Washington." The idea, that a common man could go to Washington and bet back the establishment was an attractive idea. So my plans was to go to BYU and earn a degree in Political Science. But I went on my mission and changed my mind. ASU and Architecture. But that changed and I was back to Political Science. But no BYU, but ASU.
As I am ASU taken class, I had a few people that get me to run as a precinct committeeman for my area. It really did not take much to get elected. I think I got elected with about 20 votes from people in the area. I think I only needed 15.
So at this point I think that I am living the perfect life. I am not only learning about politics, but I am also part of the process some what. A precinct committeeman is the person in the neighborhood, that knows what is going on in the state politically. He works closely with the State Representatives and Senator in there district. So every month I would go to district meeting and hear from them and sometimes other State and national leaders, At one point I ran for a leadership position and won the seat for 3rd Vice Chairman in the district.
Being elected as a precinct committeeman also meant going to two extra meeting every year. One for the county and the other one for the state. I also got the chance to got to the state convention to vote on who would represent the state at the national convention. I did not run for that, but I wish I would have. The Republican Convention for 2000 was in Philadelphia.
But 2000 also meant the the political lines in the state would change. Our district did not change much. We lost Dobson Ranch but got more of East Mesa. This meant that we had more of the fringe part of the Republican party. These brought in some interesting people. We got the likes of Karen Johnson, J.T. Ready and Jeff Groscost. Jeff had been Speaker of the House, until he made a move that cost the state millions of dollars, and his votes were not happy about it. But the next year he is voted in as the new District Chair.
With the election of Jeff Groscost, I saw our district change and change for the worst. I found this out when I was working for the State Senate campaign of Mary Jo Vicchiarelli against Karen Johnson. I saw the dirty tricks being used, that I thought were only used against the other party. The Person behind this was J.T. Ready who was being mentored by Jeff Groscost. I could see J.T. Ready for who he was and I did not like him or stand for who he really was. But he had most in the district snowed in believing he was doing things for good intention. I even warned Russell Pearce that J.T. intentions were not good, but he did not listen either.
So with the move to a house in 2004, meant that I was out as a precinct committeeman. The area that we moved into has some get committeemen serving there and if I ran, then one might lose there seat. I did not want this to happen, so I dropped out of politics. At this point I was tired of the game.
2008 I graduated from ASU. Graduating at 38, I did not think would be a problem. But a lot of Government agency do have age requirements. And being white, not a women, and not serving in the military is also strikes against you. So I quit looking for a jobs in the government. I thought about teaching, but at the time, I did not have the money to get the certs that I needed or the classes.
I hope that one day, I can go back and get my certs for teaching. I have kind of given up ever working in the government. I don't know if I will ever run for elected office, I just don't like the games that are played there. Some day that degree will go on a wall somewhere.
Art Doane, one of my high school teachers, also got my mind thinking about the current events of our time. He would always start the class off, with what was going on around us. I read the newspaper every day back then, and so I was part of the class exercise almost everyday. But what really did it for me was seeing, "Mr. Smith goes to Washington." The idea, that a common man could go to Washington and bet back the establishment was an attractive idea. So my plans was to go to BYU and earn a degree in Political Science. But I went on my mission and changed my mind. ASU and Architecture. But that changed and I was back to Political Science. But no BYU, but ASU.
As I am ASU taken class, I had a few people that get me to run as a precinct committeeman for my area. It really did not take much to get elected. I think I got elected with about 20 votes from people in the area. I think I only needed 15.
So at this point I think that I am living the perfect life. I am not only learning about politics, but I am also part of the process some what. A precinct committeeman is the person in the neighborhood, that knows what is going on in the state politically. He works closely with the State Representatives and Senator in there district. So every month I would go to district meeting and hear from them and sometimes other State and national leaders, At one point I ran for a leadership position and won the seat for 3rd Vice Chairman in the district.
Being elected as a precinct committeeman also meant going to two extra meeting every year. One for the county and the other one for the state. I also got the chance to got to the state convention to vote on who would represent the state at the national convention. I did not run for that, but I wish I would have. The Republican Convention for 2000 was in Philadelphia.
But 2000 also meant the the political lines in the state would change. Our district did not change much. We lost Dobson Ranch but got more of East Mesa. This meant that we had more of the fringe part of the Republican party. These brought in some interesting people. We got the likes of Karen Johnson, J.T. Ready and Jeff Groscost. Jeff had been Speaker of the House, until he made a move that cost the state millions of dollars, and his votes were not happy about it. But the next year he is voted in as the new District Chair.
With the election of Jeff Groscost, I saw our district change and change for the worst. I found this out when I was working for the State Senate campaign of Mary Jo Vicchiarelli against Karen Johnson. I saw the dirty tricks being used, that I thought were only used against the other party. The Person behind this was J.T. Ready who was being mentored by Jeff Groscost. I could see J.T. Ready for who he was and I did not like him or stand for who he really was. But he had most in the district snowed in believing he was doing things for good intention. I even warned Russell Pearce that J.T. intentions were not good, but he did not listen either.
So with the move to a house in 2004, meant that I was out as a precinct committeeman. The area that we moved into has some get committeemen serving there and if I ran, then one might lose there seat. I did not want this to happen, so I dropped out of politics. At this point I was tired of the game.
2008 I graduated from ASU. Graduating at 38, I did not think would be a problem. But a lot of Government agency do have age requirements. And being white, not a women, and not serving in the military is also strikes against you. So I quit looking for a jobs in the government. I thought about teaching, but at the time, I did not have the money to get the certs that I needed or the classes.
I hope that one day, I can go back and get my certs for teaching. I have kind of given up ever working in the government. I don't know if I will ever run for elected office, I just don't like the games that are played there. Some day that degree will go on a wall somewhere.
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