Your candidacy begins today . . . with these words on a sheet of paper from Emerge I started my Emerge fellowship! I must admit that I was nervous to begin my Emerge experience I remember while in law school looking at fellow classmates who every one “knew” would one day go into politics and thinking: “What “dirt bags!” . . . and now I am one of them . . .well at least in theory I am. My journey to the Emerge program has been anything but linear. I have always known that I wanted to be an agent of change but I always assumed that would occur as an attorney and/or a community activist. What made me change my mind? Quite simply and succinctly, I realized that I could not do any worse a job than a great deal of the people that currently hold office and I also knew that I could and wanted to do much better! So, I have decided to take the plunge into the world of pubic service!
I truly have no idea what to expect. I have heard that politics can be cut-throat and ruthless . . .that I can lose my soul and my mind on the campaign trail, but yet while I am nervous, I am not afraid. Some might say that my lack of fear comes from naivety and those individuals would be partially right, because other than volunteering on individual politicians campaigns – phone banking and stuffing envelopes and the like – I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE of what it is like to be an actual candidate unless you count high school class elections and that was over a decade ago for me.
One thing that I have is determination and will! I plan to use this experience that has been granted to me to learn all I can and to mold myself into they type of person who can go out and win elections, but yet retains the essential essence of who and what I am. Watch out world! My candidacy has begun . . .
Kia-Jacquelyn Omotalade
Emerge California 2012