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| Aaron Schock is the youngest serving Congressman. |
Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) spoke to a group on GW students Tuesday at a College Republicans and Young America's Foundation cosponsored event. Schock, 30, told the Marvin Center crowd about his journey to becoming the youngest serving U.S. Congressmen.
"It's great to be back on a college campus," Schock said. "Most of the days I get to spend with people that are three times my age, so it's kind of fun to come back to a place, where people kind of look my age."
He then launched into a brief version of his impressive rise to Congress. Schock got off to an ambitious start at an incredibly young age working by forming his own company, working with DOS formatting software and doing database management, at a book store chain. The impressive part was, Schock was only in the fifth grade.
Many other impressive accomplishments followed, including working a ticket-brokering job that would net him nearly $18,000 annually when he reached seventh grade, and began investing the money that he earned with an online trading account. He was relatively successful until the tech bubble burst and his portfolio bottomed out.
Schock got his first taste of politics when he attempted to graduate a year early from high school and was held back by the school board. Schock earned all of his high school credits by the end of his junior year and attempted to go off to college a year early. Shock said the school board prevented his early departure because of the state money the district would receive for his school attendance.
When he realized it was about the money, Schock said he showed up at the next school board meeting with a personal check for $8,400 written out to the school system, the exact amount of the school's state aid. The board turned him down and forced Schock to take gym for his senior year for a single credit hour.
Schock got his first taste of politics when he attempted to graduate a year early from high school and was held back by the school board. Schock earned all of his high school credits by the end of his junior year and attempted to go off to college a year early. Shock said the school board prevented his early departure because of the state money the district would receive for his school attendance.
When he realized it was about the money, Schock said he showed up at the next school board meeting with a personal check for $8,400 written out to the school system, the exact amount of the school's state aid. The board turned him down and forced Schock to take gym for his senior year for a single credit hour.
He wanted to change the rules. Schock decided to jump in the race against the previously unopposed Peoria school board president. He managed to collect the necessary number of petition signatures, but the school board member hired an attorney and challenged his petition. Some of the signees simply wrote ditto marks and not a full signature, and the court decided this invalidated Schock's petition.
Determined to win, Schock still ran as a write-in candidate. He defeated the incumbent president, and three years later, Schock became the youngest Illinois school board president at the age of 23.
Determined to win, Schock still ran as a write-in candidate. He defeated the incumbent president, and three years later, Schock became the youngest Illinois school board president at the age of 23.
He later followed up his early election victory by successfully running for a position in the Illinois House of Representatives in 2005. He served for four years, quickly moving up the ranks in the Democratic state legislature.
Schock joined Congress in 2009 at the age of 28. Two years later, he was reelected with nearly 70% of the votes.
Schock joined Congress in 2009 at the age of 28. Two years later, he was reelected with nearly 70% of the votes.
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