[applause] >> hi, i'm victor meyer. i'm 25 years old. i'm from california. and like many of you -- yes. throw it up. throw up the west side. i think like many of you, i majored in political science in college and thought that the next step -- the natural next step was law school. and somewhere along the way i came out on the dc and i worked on the hill and i just got this feeling in me, this itch i wanted to scratch and i was part of a team and i think i -- i started to realize that when i had a moment that there was something else drawing me away from a natural path like law school. i was really to take a leap of faith on an idea and i know that sounds generic and all of those moments us included we're still young so don't shy away from taking something even if it doesn't sound as concrete or guaranteed as law school so i actually abandoned that path and came to dc to work for a couple of different politicians as well as political organizations and that's how i got to where i am now and i have to say every now and then my parents try to forward me articles