photo courtesy of brown.senate.gov

On October 14, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Propel Ohio, a leadership summit put on by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s office.  The conference was attended by over 250 students from various colleges and universities across the state of Ohio.

Upon arriving, our group from OSU decided to sit in the front, and I sat three seats down from the first reserved seat.  Well, to our surprise Sherrod Brown, himself, sat in the first reserved seat!  So as he was walking to his seat he greeted us and asked where we were from; I told him I was from Pittsburgh, an out of state town.  When he gave his speech addressing all the students, he mentioned that his goal is to keep people in the state of Ohio, and mentioned Pittsburgh as one of the places where people were from, and he looked at me.  What a cool encounter with a United States Senator!

The rest of the conference focused on child poverty, and different ways to eradicate it.  Among strategies, we talked about reducing food insecurity, ensuring quality housing, and providing education.  We had two panels, one with representatives from organizations that work directly or indirectly to address child poverty, and an elected officials panel, who talked about how public policy can influence child poverty.

Through networking with peers and adults, and engaging in meaningful conversations about difficult topics, I gained not only more information about child poverty, but I also left with the necessary tools to make change in my community, which, for the next 4+ years, is right here in Columbus, Ohio.