Before the major event of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) began in Charlotte, NC, the nation’s youth held a conference to express their ideas and voice their opinions. One of the conference speakers was Derek Mong, recent graduate of Duke University and a Montgomery County Public Schools and Winston Churchill High School alumnus.

Mong spoke about his life and his involvement in politics at a press conference, held by College Democrats of America, with speakers including Tori Taylor, Youth Engagement of the Democratic National Convention Committee, and Rod Snyder the National President of Young Democrats of America. Mong also was a featured speaker in the conference, which was held before the DNC began.

Following his high school graduation in 2008, Mong graduated from Duke University in 2012. According to Mong, he started getting involved in politics because it is a big deal in Maryland and it just spoke to him.

“Living in Montgomery County helped a lot because there were a lot of local issues to write about,” he said. “I got involved very, very early on.” He added that one of his biggest deciding moments that helped him get into politics was when he took a class taught by Maryland delegate, Matthew Schilling.

At the conference, Taylor kicked it off by welcoming everyone and introducing herself and the rest of the speakers. Then each speaker described what their organization did and how important it was that youth get involved in the elections, each organization having different goals on what to do.

Snyder said his goal was to enhance the electoral vote of youth under age 30. In regards to the president’s role, he said, “President Obama has been with the youth since he stepped into office.” When it was Mong’s turn to speak, he talked about how his background influenced him and his involvement in politics.

“For a while, I was part of an Asian-Pacific Islander group,” he said. “They backed me up and helped me get another stance on my role in politics.”

Every four years, the DNC is held in a different city, but it attracts politicians, commentators and spectators from all over the country. Many democratic delegates from all the states and U.S. territories gather there to support presidential and vice presidential nominees. On the other hand, Republican delegates attend the Republican National Convention to do the same. This is also a largely covered event by the press as many news organizations, large and small, gather there.

As well as being a melting pot for delegates and press, the DNC is also used to announce the official nominees. Since President Obama and Vice President Biden are running for re-election, they were already nominated as candidates for 2012. Also, since they are already in office, the Secret Service went into extreme security measures to protect the president, such as having security checkpoints where they open the hood of cars to see if there are bombs, having dogs to detect bombs and toxic chemicals and managing personal screenings.

There were also a plethora of protests, including signs depicting aborted fetuses, marches against Obama, trucks driving by with many harsh opinions, such as, “Islam is a false religion” which is obviously an anti-Islam slur and, “No same sex” which was protesting gay marriage or gay relationships in general. There were also many signs as well as signs criticizing Obama’s campaign and America today.

Through all the excitement and protests of the convention, Mong still was able to send a message to the youth of America.

“Get involved,” he said. “The country depends on youth, just like us.”