Recapping my GW days.
In 2017, I was working at CLF in Tucson, when Jeff Flake dropped out of his Senate race I knew that my time in Arizona was coming to an end. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, so I decided to apply to GW to try and advance myself. I was working in politics for some time and decided it was what I wanted to do. I got great friends like Eric, Patricia, Vincent, and my good friend Jose to write me letters of recommendations. To my surprise I got in, I don’t know why but I did heavily doubt my chances being from a small town and only having gone to small schools very few people have heard of outside NM.
Planning to go was tough, Washington is unbelievably expensive compared to New Mexico or Arizona. For perspective my rent in Tucson was only $500 a month. I applied for the scholarship the school offered and got my first semester for free. My good friend and former boss Ryan helped me find a paid internship to apply to and I got it. And luckily for me one of my old fans from my video making article writing days offered me a place in his home for a very modest price. It was in Reston Virginia, quite far from Washington but through studying how Virginia and DC Transit worked I was able to work out how i was going to be able to get to work and school.
I arrived in Virginia in January 2018 during an extreme cold snap. It was the coldest I’d been in years and definitely was not dressed for it. After getting settled in with the help of my dad and my new room mates Israel and Wenting I started on my new life on the East coast. for 6 months I’d wake up at 5:30 get ready, wait for the bus, get off at the train station, then ride the hour or so metro ride, got to work from 9–5 then school 7–10 ride the train back catch the last bus home rinse and repeat. Not bringing a vehicle was a huge mistake. Despite how some may sell it to you, the commuting via public transit life style is extremely draining even more so than driving, and for those who know me that’s saying a lot.
My first time in GW was a bit of a culture shock, it was easily the biggest school I’ve ever attended and the most traditional. seeing my name and my school next to my peers’ was shocking. “Samuel LeDoux — New Mexico Highlands University” sandwiched between people who went to schools like the Naval Academy, Notre Dame, Georgetown, etc. I loved my classes though, I got to talk about something I actually had experience in, unlike in my business classes in undergrad where I only understood the concepts.
After my internship concluded I was desperate to find a new job and housing. My roommates were looking at moving and bringing their son home who was living with his grandparents at the time. For 2 months I was applying to about 20–30 jobs a day not hearing anything back and even harassing my new found friends at the DC Young Republicans to see if they had any leads. My search for new housing was also not going well I went all over DC looking for a place to rent. Finding ways to utilized public transportation to get to these houses in DC was difficult and I became very familiar with DC’s bus system. Not having a job and being so public about my political views in this very political town made it challenging. In fact I never was able to ever actually live in DC during my time going to school there. To top it off I was also taking a summer course which only added to the stress.
Luckily for me Kory a man i met when he came to campaign for YRNF Chair in NM told me about a position on the Larry Hogan campaign. I admired Gov. Hogan since I first heard about how he pulled off an insanely close election and how he fought and beat cancer. My former colleague from Montana Jackson also tried to recruit me. I was skeptical at first because I knew how difficult working on a campaign and going to school was, in 2014 on Governor Martinez’s campaign I was taking classes at 8 am and the burning the midnight oil to finish homework after I got off work at 9 or 10pm. I was desperate for a job so I decided to at least interview, if I got the job my dad offered to drive my car from NM to Maryland.
Getting to the interview was the most challenging part of the interview process. I found a private company that offered rides from the New Carrolton metro station to Annapolis for $10 but the only came at 8 am. My interview wasn’t until 5 pm. Well I rode the bus to the metro then got on this bus which looked like and old airport shuttle which had it’s air conditioning broken. (it was July) The closest this bus could drop me off at was this Dunkin Donuts which was several blocks away. I spent all day at Dunkin working on school work and waiting nervously for my interview. Unfortunately there was an unforeseen complication and my interview had to be pushed to the next day. So I had to go through all that again but it was worth it. I got the job!
My dad drove my car from NM to Virginia and we went frantic apartment shopping (something I’ve gotten used to as a campaigner) I worked my first week commuting from Reston to Rockville until we finally found this amazing room to rent in Calverton from this awesome dude named Remy. I moved in and began my life in Maryland. I still have to thank my great boss at the time Stephen for being so understanding.
Shortly after I moved in we moved the office from Rockville to Bethesda where I was working and still going to school and commuting to Calverton. The days were long like they are on any campaign. 12 hour days are the norm in politics kids. One of the stories from those early campaign days was finishing my final paper at a Denny’s on the Eastern Shore at 4 am while preparing to go to the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake in Crisfield.
On the campaign I was assigned the toughest targeted districts in the state, LD 16, 17, and 18. Bethesda, North Potomac, Kensington, Rockville, and Gaithersburg. I got to help out great people like Bill Day, Linda Willard, and Josephine Wang. My coworkers Stephen Jimmy, Tyler, John and Gefen became like a second family. Stephen was very kind to me and let me attend the funeral of my former boss and hero John McCain which I was graciously invited to Like many campaigns things got tense at times but we made it through. Those long days and nights paid off. We got Governor Hogan re-elected and I got As in all my classes!
Post campaign life in between jobs was a bit stressful because of the uncertainty of whether or not i’d be able to get a job, I applied in the Hogan Admin and I was crossing my fingers to see if I could get in. It was a second term so many positions were already filled. My friends from school like Tony, Nada, Jaime, and my DC YR crew helped me through this time. I also got to attend some MD GOP events to keep me busy. Being unsure of my prospects and having to apply to other jobs just in case I made the difficult decision of spending my first Christmas away from my family.
Luckily for me I was able to find a home in Governor Hogan’s admin and my first day would be inauguration day! I moved to Annapolis and started to re-learn working a normal job with normal hours. commuting from Annapolis to DC for school was tough but once I got the rhythm down I figured it out. I had a wonderful new work family with Logan, Maria, Leonora, Gaye, Sam, Stephen, and Stephanie. I was baptized by fire coming in during session and helping reorganize the mailing system. I was living out of an Air BnB with some of the best roommates a man could ask for Collin, Andy, and Sam. Life was great and we had some fun times in Eastport. After session I got my own apartment in Annapolis. That summer we saw some of my colleagues move on and got new amazing ones like Emily, Zach and Morgan. On campus I got to meet my new friend Josh and I helped Justin run for SA President. I also applied to be on the SA myself. (looking at the time commitment now thank god I wasn’t appointed)
Late 2019 was rough for me though, my girlfriend broke up with me and my apartment in Annapolis flooded with sewage and became unlivable. Almost the entire month of October I was living out of hotels, going to school and working, while negotiating with my landlord to transfer me. They transferred me to their complex in Sparrows Point, for the 4th time in 2 years I was on the move again and commuting from Sparrows Point to Annapolis to Washington and back proved to be a bit challenging. I also had to give up the reigns of the new Anne Arudnel Young Republicans club I started, luckily it was to my friend Stephen. My commute to work from home went from 7 minutes to an hour. It was an intense stressful time but I made it through. That winter I once again didn’t spend Christmas with my family because my girlfriend at the time wanted to spend Hanukkah together I scheduled it so that I would spend the week before Christmas with my family and then spend that time with her. I didn’t plan on the break up happening. The time I did spend in NM was great and I got to catch up with my old friends.
2020 was a new start, my final semester at GW began as well as my second session in MD, I became a part of Baltimore YRs with my partner in crime Jason and I started to love my new home. Of course COVID struck and I ended my time in my GW area at home in Sparrows point but it was an amazing journey with many twists and turns and I can’t thank my friends and family enough for helping me get through it. These last few quarantine months were stressful but I made it. I got my Masters Degree! Something I thought I’d never do as someone who barely graduated High School.
Samuel LeDoux, MPS
