At just 27 years of age, Aaron Schock has accomplished more than most people twice his age, most recently being voted into the US House, the youngest person ever to be elected to Congress.
Aaron came from humble beginnings, growing up on a farm in rural Illinois. He and his siblings were taught the value of hard work from an early age when their Father planted a strawberry patch which the children maintained and, as a reward for their labors, were allowed to harvest and sell for profit. Aaron was only 5 years old at the time and, although too young to work the fields, looked after the telephone orders that came in for the fruit.
By the age of 15, Aaron was routinely earning upwards of $18,000 per year working a gravel pit, yet still finding the time to maintain an excellent academic record. Almost all the money he earned was invested in real estate, and by 18 Aaron had become something of a business mogul.
It seemed only fitting that he would opt for a degree in finance at Bradley University, a four year degree that the intensely hard working Schock earned in 2 years. After graduating, Aaron started his own business, as well as continuing to invest in the real estate market, but he still felt he could do more. At 19, he decided to throw his hat into the political ring, and make a run for the Peoria School Board, a bid that ended successfully despite numerous setbacks which ended up leaving him as a write-in nominee. That he was able to win from such a lowly position of power is, in itself, staggering.
Aaron worked extremely hard to better his school district, a deed that did not go unnoticed, and after 3 short years, he was unanimously elected as School Board President, all this at the tender age of 23. During his tenure as President, Aaron became disillusioned by the lack of support and funding from, then State Representative, Ricca Stone. He decided that the only way to make any sort of change was to run for the position himself. No-one gave him a chance; a vastly inexperienced Republican running in a staunchly Democratic stronghold, but, once again, he defied all odds and went on to victory.
Aaron went to work immediately, working furiously to get 11 of his bills passed, everything from school reform to transportation, to a bill that would help fight high tech identity theft. He has been lauded by many as the hardest working State Representative in Illinois, if not US, history, and it came as no surprise to anyone when he made a successful run for Congress in the 2008 General Election. He won in a landslide, and come January 2009, he will be the youngest person ever to take a seat in Congress.
Aaron Schock seems to be living proof that with a combination of hard work and dogged determination, you can achieve anything. Who would bet against him one day replacing Theodore Roosevelt as the youngest person ever to be voted into The White House?
