On Thursday Senator Dawn Buckingham addressed the student body of the Brookesmith Independent School District.  Buckingham represents District 24 in the Texas State Senate.

Senator Buckingham spent almost an hour with the students.  She told them that she also attended a small school as a child.  When in high school she considered various careers, but ultimately decided to become a doctor.  She said she worked and put herself through college and medical school.  The lesson, she told the students, is to follow your dreams and do not quit.  “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

She then took questions from the students, including “Why did you want to be a Senator?”, “What do you do as a Senator?”, “What are some of the frustrations of being a Texas State Senator?”, and “What is the biggest challenge in your job?”.

We asked Senator Buckingham why she decided to visit Brookesmith:  “I love all my small communities in District 24, and of course travelling across the state we’re getting to meet other ones.  I think it’s really important, especially for our kids in smaller schools, who may not have some of the resources the students in the bigger schools have, that we come and we tell them that we love them, and we have hopes and dreams for them.  We just want to help them achieve their goals, and that’s really our primary purpose in everything we’re doing.”

Buckingham has served in the Texas Senate for five years, and is now running for Texas Land Commissioner.  We asked why she decided to make that change, and what she hopes to achieve if elected to that office:  “The General Land Office encompasses so much of what I am passionate about in the state.  We fund education.  We fund state veteran’s programs.  We help people in disaster recovery.  We are the guardians of Texas history.  We steward million of acres of state land.  It’s an incredibly important job.  It’s one I take very seriously and I hope to serve and make everyone proud.”