Don Young visits Mat-Su College

Alaska State Representative, Don Young.

I'll say it right up front.  I have never voted for Don Young.  That being said, I'm glad I had the opportunity to see him during his recent visit to Mat-Su College.  Several students, faculty, and staff got to shake hands with the Alaska Representative on Tuesday in the Atrium.  He was recently elected to his 20th term representing the people of Alaska, and is still going strong!

I did my homework before the congressman arrived.  I learned that he was born in Northern California and graduated from the state university in Chico.  In the 1960's, he arrived in Fort Yukon, Alaska, working as a trapper, gold miner, and a boat operator.  He was soon elected mayor of Fort Yukon, and then Senator for one term, before becoming a representative.  Although his political views don't align with my own, and his knack for saying tactless things is legendary, I was touched by his obviously loving long-time marriage to his late wife, Lu.  He mentioned her several times as he answered questions from students at Mat-Su, attributing much of his success and happiness to her.

I was also pleased to find some points that I could agree on with the congressman:  people need to watch less TV and need to get busy producing all-American goods.  I'll avoid getting into any sticky political views here and just say that I was happy to find some common ground with my state representative.  And hopefully, he can find common ground with other Alaskans like me, maybe even some environmentalists, and we can work together toward a healthy future for Alaska.  Oops, that may have been a little bit political.

Anyway, it was a rare opportunity and I hope student's took advantage of it.  Mat-Su College is, after all, heavily supported by the State of Alaska as part of the University of Alaska system.  Most college student's are old enough to vote, and you ought to!  Who do you think is going to run the country when people like Don Young finally retire?  Maybe it'll be you.