By Kathryn Kelly
Erinn Foote, a senior at South View High School, is already a force to be reckoned with. At the young age of 17, she has all the makings to become a thriving politician. In her not-so-spare time outside of class, she plays tennis, practices karate, works at the Fayetteville Area Transportation and Local History Museum, and serves in student government. She says that her favorite activity is competing in countywide Congress debate competitions speaking professionally, discussing important issues, and mimicking the discourse that occurs in official congressional settings.
After a civics and economics class in high school taught by an inspiring teacher, Erinn was drawn to politics. Now, her dream and lifetime goal is to become President. She said, “I continuously think about running for office.”
Recently, Erinn added another remarkable achievement under her (black) belt.
This past summer, she had the fortune to attend the Young Women’s Political Leadership hosted by Running Start, a non-partisan organization dedicated to facilitating the interests of young women and encouraging them to pursue political careers. Selected from a pool of over 300,000 applicants, Erinn attended the week-long retreat with 60 other bright and political-minded young women from all across the country.
Although she has long wanted to pursue politics, Erinn had never heard of this program before. She stumbled upon the organization on Facebook and applied, without even telling her parents. Once she got in, she let them know. They were over the moon.
Erinn was told that this program was going to change her life, even if she didn’t quite know how just yet. During the program, participants toured Capitol Hill, attended guest lectures, and enjoyed a networking reception at the Microsoft Corporation building. She crossed paths with political figures like Congressman Richard Hudson, a NC US House of Representative; Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader of the US House of Representatives; and Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to President Trump.
In college, Erinn hopes to major in political science and minor in psychology and economics. Afterwards, she plans on attending law school. Like any other political aficionado, Erinn is most passionate about policy issues and hopes to gain experience by one day working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Right now, she is most concerned with the American public’s accessibility to quality healthcare.
While most teens are preoccupied with college essays and living up their last days of high school, Erinn Foote is driven by the power to make large scale change a reality. She’s ready to make a name for herself. For this aspiring politician, it’s all up “Capitol Hill” from here.
