Shannon Kang is a sophomore at Purdue University. Like most students, she spends time worrying about grades — but after the local 2019 elections in West Lafayette, she’s also balancing homework with city council meetings and supporting her constituents.

Purdue Alumni spoke with her as she assumed office in January 2020.

Why run for office now? As a student?

Running for office is something I wanted to do in the future, but I’m glad I got to get a headstart on it now. I was just very motivated to do it.

I think every student going to college has ambitions of being really involved. I was excited to get involved serving the community — that’s what I’ve always done. I realized that a lot of young people don’t run for office. Purdue isn’t a very politically inclined university. I hope that my running for office will help other people realize that this is a possibility — that once they learn about the politics in their college town, they’ll go home and try to get involved locally.

What was the reception you felt with voters, with the local press as a student?

The first questions were, “How old are you?” or, “Wait, city council?” They would have to process it, which is funny because even I didn’t have that reaction. I was just very ambitious, and it seemed like a cool opportunity. In hindsight, I see that it’s something not a lot of people consider doing. It kept me motivated, though. It encouraged me to keep going because people would say, “Oh it’s great that you’re so young getting started this early.”

In the past year, we’ve seen a number of Purdue-affiliated women running for office. Do you think this is coincidence or part of a larger trend?

I would hope that it’s part of a larger trend. I took a class this semester called Women, Politics, and Public Policy, which is where I learned how few women run for office. Women are not as encouraged to run for office as men, and stats show that women lack the confidence. But after 2016, a lot more women have stepped up. I think the 2016 election shook a lot of people to participate in politics, and that meant a lot of women wanted to get involved. For me, that wasn’t the main reason I wanted to run, but it did stick with me. The trend has been increasing that more women are running for office.

Talk about the effort required to run for office at the same time that you’re a full-time student. What did your semester look like? Were you working at the same time?

I had to go to a lot of places after a long day of school; luckily I had a car this semester, so I could get to city hall or meetings if I needed.

But the hardest thing for me was just juggling everything with all these classes. They were very different from one another. I’m a poli-sci major with Spanish and statistics minors. I had history, statistics, Spanish, political science, philosophy, and a small elective called Citizens Academy, so my coursework was all over the place. It was a constant cycle of calls and interviews, trying to figure out how to reach out to voters, complete math homework and Spanish essays, take part in tabling, and knock doors around campus.

I think that running for office would’ve been so much easier if I weren’t a full-time student. Even though it was very difficult, I wasn’t discouraged. I know that if — and when — I run for office again in the future, it’ll be a lot easier in the sense that I probably won’t be juggling trying to get good grades while running for office.

How many credit hours were you taking?

16 credit hours. I was like, “Oh, I won’t take 18 because that’ll be a lot,” but even 16 was a lot.

Do you have any advice for students following in your footsteps who might consider running for office?

It’s OK to not know what you’re doing most of the time, because for me, there was a lot I had to learn as I went along. I would say to try your best to be empowered by other people. Talk to people. Don’t criticize yourself; instead, understand how you react around certain people. Be asking yourself the questions “How do people see me?” or “What can I learn from that conversation?” Be very aware of your audience and the people you’ll be representing. It’ll guide you to become the best politician or leader you can be. Try not to criticize yourself. You need to find the people who will really keep you grounded.

What did it mean for you to win this seat?

It meant everything to me. All my hard work paid off. This campus is so diverse, and people are so open; it was hard not to fall in love with the University and the city. The politicians who were running were so supportive of one another. It was a really exciting election because three women were running, and two of us ended up winning, which put more diversity on the council. I felt that a student should be representing the student district. I feel like it gives students a voice having a student on the council.

From what I understand, you were quite emotional talking to your mom when you FaceTimed her after your victory.

She was freaking out. She was actually at church — I think she was in mass. I didn’t have a big reaction on my face, so she asked what happened, and I told her I won. She’s so proud of how far I have come. My parents don’t know much English, so they couldn’t help me with a lot of things when I was a kid. I never expected them to help me, but I had to do a lot on my own. They were really proud that I could do this myself.

Did they encourage you to run? Or did they caution you about putting too much on your plate?

They really trust me and my judgment; they know I’m very ambitious and want to get involved in the community. They’re very involved with their local Korean church in Atlanta, so they understand when I say I’m doing this for my community. They might’ve been worried a little but not to the point where they discouraged me to run. They were just very proud.

With work, school, and running for office, can you talk a little bit about maintaining some sense of balance in your life? How do you manage that?

I really like to spend time alone. I mean, I love spending time with my friends, but whenever I’m with my friends, I don’t like to talk to them about how much I’m going through or complain, unless it’s affecting my mental health. They’re there for me, obviously, but the stress is something I like to take time to debrief on by myself. I’ll go to the gym; I like to be active and to be outside. Sometimes when I’m just sitting there and using my brain, I lose touch with my body, so I have to take a break and go for a run or a walk. Going out with my friends and just laughing is honestly the best medicine, though. It’s OK to step back and have fun and then go back to work. One can easily have too much of one or the other, but that’s that self-control I really want to be able to keep practicing.

Can you talk about the importance of having a city council that is reflective of its constituents, given that the city is very diverse in terms of age, ethnicity, background, religion, etc.?

Having someone who is similar to their constituents in the way they look, how they talk, what era that they’re more in tune with, is really important. Yes, someone that doesn’t look like their constituents can still be a good leader, but I think the reason I was elected is that students see me as relatable. My problems are their problems, too.

It’s important to have someone who you’re comfortable enough to approach with your questions about politics, especially minorities who might not know as much about American politics. It can be hard to have a conversation about it. To have someone who is willing to listen to you, someone who understands what you’ve gone through as a student. I think being a good leader entails being able to listen to your constituents and being open to the wealth of information and opinions they possess.

What are your goals for your upcoming term?

I want to do a lot of work to help West Lafayette become more environmentally friendly. I can’t really tell you exactly what that will entail, but I’m excited to meet and work with people who work in specific departments in West Lafayette. Also, working with students will be very important. This year is a great time to leverage students’ enthusiasm for the new decade. There’s a lot of work being done at Purdue University, but I think students have suggestions on what they want the University to do and what kinds of businesses they want to see in the area as well as concerns about the high-rises, etc.

Traditionally people think about engaging constituents through town halls and the like. How do you approach engagement in a district that’s heavily a student population?

Doing personal things like town halls would be great, but to target my audience, I need to make it as easy for them as possible to learn about West Lafayette’s politics. I have people follow my Instagram; it’s a personal page, but I post about politics and have a lot people who will direct message me because they want to bring something to my attention. My Facebook is a great resource, but I’m also a walking resource since I’m on campus pretty much 24/7. Being at community events for Purdue and West Lafayette is a great way to meet the people who give back to the community as well.

Actually, one of my professors from my freshman year asked me to talk to a class about my run for office. I was so pleased with the responses I got because people actually had questions for me. That shows that they were really intrigued and obviously had something they felt needed to be addressed. I’m sure they’re not the only people who feel this way.

Anything to add before we let you go?

People who work for the city, they might seem intimidating, but just because they’re older than us doesn’t mean they’re inaccessible. They’re very open to us and what we have to say. When I talk about what students want, the councilors’ ears perk up because Purdue is such a huge part of West Lafayette, and they genuinely care about what we want. If students feel there hasn’t been enough progress, it may be because there haven’t been enough voices to back them up. They should take advantage of the fact that there’s a student on the council. You can literally talk to anyone, and they’ll report back to me or share things at the council.

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