Juggling school, work and extra-curricular activities can be stressful for any college student. Add in a career as a public servant and you have a life more exciting and more stressful than is possible to imagine. For Mike Elconin, that life was a reality.
At the age of 19, Elconin was elected to the Wisconsin state Assembly in 1972, becoming the youngest member to ever serve on the state Assembly. Elconin served nearly three terms, while attending classes at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, majoring in economics.
Elconin first became involved in politics as a junior in high school when he worked at the office of a candidate running for Congress. He also ran a recycling campaign in Glendale, a Milwaukee suburb.
When the voting age was changed to 18, Elconin was attending Brown University and decided to take a chance and run for a seat in the state Legislature.
""I thought it would be interesting and I was very interested in public policy and politics,"" Elconin said. ""I decided to take a shot at it.""
Elconin headed back to Wisconsin and ended up winning the election.
Elconin said serving on the legislature was ""challenging and a real rush"" but admitted he was intimidated by politicians who doubled him in years.
""I obviously didn't have much life experience. I had a fair amount of political experience, but no real life experience,"" he said. ""Looking back on it, I'd say someone that age is pretty unprepared for dealing with the wide range of issues that come up,"" he said.
Elconin recalled that even former Gov. Tommy Thompson, whom he called a ""close friend,"" once made a joke about his allowance, but later apologized for it.
One of the most difficult things for Elconin, however, was trying to keep a low profile in school.
""I didn't like to let professors know who I was,"" Elconin said, but admitted ""it was hard not to go to the professors and use the legislature as an excuse.""
While in office, Elconin said his passion was for environmental and urban development issues. He served as chairman of the criminal justice and public safety committees.
Elconin said one of the best things about serving on the legislature was learning so much about so many different things.
""I would say among the really great things were the education and the wide range of issues and a way of thinking about issues that most college students are never exposed to,"" Elconin said.
He added it was exciting to deal with such important people even though he was only 19 years old.
State Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, served with Elconin on the Assembly and recalls the young representative as being ""bright and articulate.""
""Even though all of the other members were older than him, he was able to hold his own and was a very skillful legislator,"" Schneider said.
Elconin's experience led him to serve as the chief of staff for former Gov. Martin Schreiber. He also worked with the Democratic caucus staff for six months and served four years on the Milwaukee School Board. Elconin called that job ""one of the most thankless jobs in all of government.""
Elconin decided to leave politics after that, eventually moved to California and is now involved in consulting and investing in high- tech start-ups. He said he does not intend to go back into politics, considering how different it is today from when he served.
""I think that the concept of public service for the sake of public service has become scarce and I think that's a shame,"" he said.
