T E X A R K A N A M A G A Z I N E
W e know little in youth, and often that is a good thing. We are impulsive, we can be arrogant and we certainly do not know enough about the world to make big decisions. That being said, the current generation of young people happens to be one of the most motivated and politically active since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In my time within the political realm, I have learned four important lessons, and they are lessons people in politics should always keep in mind. The small stuff matters. The fall of 2020 was an enormous opportunity for everyone in politics. After a chaotic year of COVID-19 and civil unrest, the election season was in full swing. I wanted to help as much as I could and gleefully took a job block-walking around the Austin area, promoting candidates in the Republican party. It paid well, and the task was to knock on 1,500 doors before election day, beginning in October. What I did not expect was how long and tedious the job would be. Austin heat persists in October, so walking through neighborhoods knocking on doors, and leaving flyers about potential candidates was not the most exciting thing in the world. But hey, making an impact is not always sexy. As far as the candidates I promoted, we won some and lost a few. While I wish we had won all of them (especially Texas House District 47), knocking on 100 doors a day to help get some of those candidates across the finish line was something I was happy to do. I may have been a small part of those campaigns, but when you want to make a difference, even the small things matter. Texarkana received the gentler version of the winter storm last year compared to the rest of Texas. Chaos ensued. The grid was failing, pipes were bursting and the tragedy of people freezing to death in their homes was a reality. I was fortunate to be in Texarkana during the storm, so I did not experience the difficult struggles so many Texans encountered. At the time, I had taken an internship in the state House of Representatives for a member in southeast Texas, which meant I answered the phones in the office before anyone else did. As expected, angry calls poured in from across the district and the state to the Austin office when I returned to work. We responded to every phone call and helped those we could by redirecting them to the proper people, whether an agency in the state government or someone from the district who could help. Yes, it was exhausting, but what mattered was that we helped every person we could. Angry phone calls from constituents and citizens are guaranteed in Angry phone calls will always happen. Listen when they do.
GETTING IT RIGHT BY GRANT ROMMEL
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B U S I N E S S & P O L I T I C S
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