Chosen to represent South Carolina electric cooperatives at a national youth leadership training program, Travis Johnson is well on his way to a bright future.
Photo by Milton Morris
Travis Johnson
AGE: 17.
HOMETOWN: Lynchburg.
CLAIM TO FAME: Represented South Carolina electric co-ops on the national Youth Leadership Council; recently elected national president of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA); senior at Crestwood High School.
LITTLE-KNOWN FACT: Though he can’t cook, Johnson is a self-proclaimed foodie—especially when it comes to seafood.
FAVORITE TV SHOWS: Mostly shows with a political theme like Scandal, Designated Survivor and House of Cards.
CO-OP AFFILIATION: Black River Electric Cooperative.
And the winner is …
Travis Johnson is the first to admit he can’t cook—he once caught his microwave on fire trying to make ramen noodles—but what this Sumter County teen can do is win.
This spring he won a coveted spot on the Washington Youth Tour—a week-long trip to Washington, D.C., sponsored by the state’s electric cooperatives. His peers on that trip elected him to represent South Carolina on the Youth Leadership Council, a national co-op leadership training program for teens. And in July, Johnson successfully campaigned to be national president of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).
Not bad for a rising high school senior from the small town of Lynchburg.
“A lot of things don’t happen in Lynchburg,” Johnson says. “But I tell people, and I say this all the time, it doesn’t matter where you come from—it matters where you’re going.”
Johnson, who aspires to a career in law and politics, visited the nation’s capital four times over the summer. He met his senators on the U.S. Capitol steps, took a selfie with Vice President Mike Pence and was invited inside the White House for a handshake with President Donald Trump.
“I just get really lucky when I’m with politicians,” he says. “They must know I want to be one of them one day.”
Johnson’s ultimate goal is to be a U.S. senator representing South Carolina, and he’s already charted a path to get there.
“College at Georgetown University—a great school located in the D.C. area,” he says. “I’d become a lawyer before going into politics. I’d run for a congressional seat, get appointed U.S. attorney general, and then after that I would go back to my home state and run for Senate.”
Sounds like a winning plan.
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Watch Travis Johnson deliver his Youth Leadership Council speech and see his selfies with Vice President Mike Pence.