Representative Antani Visits DRSS to Talk 2016 Election Campaign

Today, the Dayton Regional STEM School had a guest speaker talk to eleventh grade students currently taking Government. Recently, students in Mrs. Durkee's Government have been learning about the different parties and how they impact our government. Representative Antani came to share more about his party, which is the Republican Party. Representative Antani was elected when he was only 23 years old. Now, he is 25, making him the youngest currently-serving member of the Ohio House, according to The Ohio House of Representatives' website. He represents the 42nd district, which is the southern part of Montgomery County. He is also only the second Indian-American to be a state elected official in Ohio history.

Multiple students expressed how they liked how he compared his beliefs to the Republican Party’s beliefs. One of those students was Adya Panchal. “My favorite part was when he told about his personal beliefs versus his party’s belief because it shows that he is conscious and doesn’t blindly follow anything.” One example of this would be same sex marriage. Many republicans believe that there shouldn’t be same sex marriage while Representative Antani believes that the government should not interfere with things like that because marriage is a religious ceremony, and a contract between two adults.

“He did inspire me. Even though we have some pretty different opinions on many topics, he helped me realize that just because you are in a group you don’t have to believe in everything the group does. He showed me that I am my own person and I can form my own beliefs,” Adya says after listening to Antani speak. Adya is also an Indian-American and she says that it makes her proud to see Representative Antani doing so well at such a young age. “He comes to a lot of Indian festivals and celebrations, so it does make me feel important and proud in the sense that despite being so successful, he doesn’t forget his roots. Even in his presentation, he mentioned never forgetting where you came from no matter what is very important.”

Representative Antani shows that it is possible to reach your goals, even at an early age, and he clearly serves as an inspiration to the many people who have met him.