A Sea Of Red

Leesburg (FL) Daily Commercial wrote:23-year-old wins District 31 race

Posted: Tuesday, August 26, 2014 4:00 pm
Austin Fuller | Staff Writer austin.fuller@dailycommercial.com



Jennifer Sullivan, a 23-year-old Mount Dora resident, won the District 31 seat in the Florida House of Representatives Tuesday.
The race was between five Republicans, with Sullivan facing Randy Glisson, Belita “B” Grassel, Terri Seefeldt and Joseph Stephens.

“I am humbled and honored to be the next state representative in District 31. I campaigned to be a fresh, conservative voice of the people in Tallahassee and tonight our district affirmed that vision,” Sullivan said in a statement read by her assistant. “I promise that I will work hard each day to represent all the people of this district with honor and integrity.”

Here's the LU connection ...

Sullivan said last week she is halfway through her college degree and is taking online classes through Liberty University. She is majoring in social sciences with a focus on history and is set to graduate in 2016, she said.

She said she has lived in Lake County the past 13 years and before that lived in Apopka.

According to her website, Sullivan has helped develop curriculum for TeenPact “to train youth to understand the political process, value their liberty, defend their Christian faith and engage the culture at a time in their lives when, typically, they do not care about such things,” the group’s website states.

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My kids are in TeenPact and think this is a hoot.

I'm scared that a 23 year old who lives with her parents and doesn't have a college degree is going to be one of my state leaders.

The people have spoken.

Frankly if you met state reps you would probably not be able to sleep in night knowing that they were in charge.

I'm not sure what a college degree has to do with doing a good job of representing the people in government.

Yacht Rock wrote:I'm not sure what a college degree has to do with doing a good job of representing the people in government.

At minimum, I want someone who has either completed their education or has years of experience in a leadership position in the "real" world. What kind of life experience could a 23 year old student who lives at home possibly have? The fact that she plans to finish her degree in 2016 leads me to believe that her job as a state representative may not be her highest priority at the moment. I must say, just shy of $30,000/year plus per diem is a pretty good chunk of change for a college kid.

Uhh...I read the article three or four times and I didn't see anything insinuating that she lives with her parents...

http://www.saintpetersblog.com/archives/157841

“Younger [people] are often times written off,” she says. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you’re young.”

I will admit, I do like the fact that she is financially prudent by choosing to live at home rather than take on massive amounts of debt and I agree with her quote at the end of the article.

However, before I turned 24, I had finished my bachelor's degree, my master's degree, got certified as an EMT and right after turning 24 started my career and also bought a house that is now a rental property.
I fully understand Adam's hesitancy with this one. Although Sly's point is equally valid (The fact that Bob Marshall can win in Northern Virginia's Prince William County and they tolerate Michelle McQuig in that same county boggles my mind).

You had some breaks to pull all that off Atrain without incurring a massive amount of debt. Most folks don't have those opportunities.

And based on her TeenPact references, I am sure that she will have no problem working inside the Statehouse in Tallahassee. It is cool seeing more from the program step up to the challenge.

BJWilliams wrote:Uhh...I read the article three or four times and I didn't see anything insinuating that she lives with her parents...

It's not in the article. A direct quote from her: "I may be 23, I may live at home, and I may not have a mortgage but I am going to be your next representative."

http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cf ... e_fea.html

Sly Fox wrote:You had some breaks to pull all that off Atrain without incurring a massive amount of debt. Most folks don't have those opportunities.

And based on her TeenPact references, I am sure that she will have no problem working inside the Statehouse in Tallahassee. It is cool seeing more from the program step up to the challenge.

This is true, I have been incredibly blessed on my journey in life.

I guess as an employer over the years I've interviewed and hired hundreds of people with every level of degree or no degree at all.

Do you know what the difference was between those with degrees and those without degrees?

The people with degrees had enough time and money/debt on their hands to get a degree.

Never saw it as a differentiator in business from entry level to senior leadership.

The only time it really came in to play was in a skilled job like accounting or something. The main prerequisite for being a government representative is being a citizen.

ATrain wrote:I do like the fact that she is financially prudent by choosing to live at home

Since she was elected, she will have a new house to hang out.

alabama24 wrote:

ATrain wrote:I do like the fact that she is financially prudent by choosing to live at home

Since she was elected, she will have a new house to hang out. :I chortle audibly.:

E for Effort

Thanks for the VOTE of confidence.

alabama24 wrote:Thanks for the VOTE of confidence.

bada bing

Most people under 25 shouldn't be allowed to vote anyway. And I'm 23.

Cynical adam as usual. 2 of my best employees are high school grads. One of the worst has a degree. It just gets you the opportunity.

I have two degrees and a certification and I'm not using any of them. Not having a degree isn't a huge deal anymore.

There are many career state politician in my fine home state of Florida that have no right to be there. This girl should be the least of any Floridians worries.

SuperJon wrote:I have two degrees and a certification and I'm not using any of them. Not having a degree isn't a huge deal anymore.

Disagree. You have to have a degree in SOMETHING. Lots of jobs require a bachelor's degree

That landscape is changing though. Employers are realizing that a degree doesn't always add value to a candidate. This is likely due to an over saturation where every kid is told they must go to college these days. So you have folks who don't have the emotional intelligence to be successful in a job but have a degree.

I would say that a lot of employers would be happy to see a degree replaced by life experience.

That's been my perspective at least working with Human Resources and Recruiting in a few different industries.

Yacht Rock wrote:That landscape is changing though. Employers are realizing that a degree doesn't always add value to a candidate. This is likely due to an over saturation where every kid is told they must go to college these days. So you have folks who don't have the emotional intelligence to be successful in a job but have a degree.

I would say that a lot of employers would be happy to see a degree replaced by life experience.

That's been my perspective at least working with Human Resources and Recruiting in a few different industries.

I agree 100%. But in working different jobs in different industries a College Degree has been a requirement. In fact at one company, a big muckety muck was told he needed to get a college degree if he wanted to retain his job. Ridiculous

jinxy wrote:Cynical adam as usual. 2 of my best employees are high school grads. One of the worst has a degree. It just gets you the opportunity.

I apologize for expressing my opinion which was contrary to yours.

jinxy wrote:Cynical adam as usual. 2 of my best employees are high school grads. One of the worst has a degree. It just gets you the opportunity.

That's the key. What you do with it is up to you

PH I've seen that too but I think the tide is turning a bit in some fields.