Published: September 07, 2008 01:26 am            

Small town to national stage

• OSU ag econ major headed to student congress

Jered Davidson believes having grown up in a small town gives him a unique perspective.

The Fort Cobb native came to Oklahoma State University from a community that had 667 people in the last census.

Now a senior majoring in agricultural economics with a minor in political science, Davidson said his experiences made him a unique voice among the 51 college juniors selected for the Inaugural Student Congress of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmen, July 19-26 in Lexington, Ky.

“They felt that with the politics in America today, there needed to be a forum created where students from across the country could work together to proactively tackle issues facing America as a whole in the market,” Davidson said. “We went in with a wonderful schedule of events lined out and crammed in over a week’s time period.”

Davidson said the speakers included media experts, dignitaries and diplomats from foreign countries.

“We talked about issues we are facing that they are tackling at the same time in the European Union, Africa, the Mideast,” Davidson said. “Anything you can think of from an international relations perspective was crammed into a one-week time period.”

He said the biggest lesson was that decisions America makes affect the entire world.

Davidson was nominated for the Student Congress by Bob Graalman, OSU’s director of scholar development.

“Jered’s been a very impressive leader on and off campus for a long time, and this program was perfectly suited to his talents and ambitions,” said Graalman in a press release. “Being named a 2008 Truman finalist and receiving this award in the same year is an indication of the type of success he will experience in his life.”

The event served as a master’s-level course in statesmanship. It included study of Clay and they spent an evening at his Ashland estate.

Also in the curriculum were dialogue, diplomacy, listening skills, mediation and negotiation.

“I encourage people to take a look at their surroundings and really evaluate what they want to see and how things are affecting their lives,” Davidson said. “For people to be able to change everything that’s wrong, they have to be educated themselves.”

He plans to earn a master’s degree in economics and go to law school at William and Mary College.

        

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