Brent Smith has done a lot to get involved at De Soto High School, like becoming Student Council president, senior class president and participating in many other various sports and activities. Smith’s hard work in these extracurriculars has led to being accepted into Harvard University.

At Harvard, Smith will be studying government with a focus on public policy. Smith became interested in this subject the summer after his sophomore year when he had an internship with a congressman. Smith explains why his passion formed from this internship.

“I really enjoyed that process of getting down to the nitty gritty about certain policies or talking about different issues that are affecting people. I realized that was what I really wanted to do,” Smith said. 

Ever since that internship Smith has been determined to make an impact on people’s lives through politics. He wants to make a difference in this world before he leaves it.

During the long journey of high school, along with trying to get accepted into Harvard, Smith has received some great advice from his peer and former STUCO president Chase Culver.

“He said don’t leave anything up to chance, make sure you are working hard at everything you do,” Smith said.

When it comes to giving advice, Smith would say the same thing. He believes you should not do something because it looks good on a resume. Work hard at everything and try to succeed in these extracurriculars.

Another person who had a big influence on his success was his dad. Smith’s dad pushed him to succeed because he was less fortunate as a kid and did not get the same opportunities.

“My dad was always pushing me to succeed at a high level. He never got the opportunity to do so when he was younger because he had no money growing up, so when he got out of high school he wanted his kids to get the opportunities he didn’t get,” Smith said. 

However, this process wasn’t easy; Smith did not have much free time due to always being occupied with extracurriculars. He would have to be out late and up early every day throughout his high school career.

“I had to take on a lot all at once over the past years. I haven’t had a lot of free time. I always had to find extracurriculars I could do with my friends because that was the only time I had to do that type of thing,” Smith said.

He also had no idea politics was what he wanted to do as a freshman. Smith did not become interested until the internship he had the summer before his junior year. At that point, he knew he wanted to go to a prestigious school like Harvard if he wanted to succeed as a politician.

As far as Smith’s future, he wants to attend law school after his undergraduate studies. When he graduates he doesn’t know what he’ll do, but it will be something to do with politics.

“I want to use law school as a step towards politics, either being a politician, or public policy of campaigning or journalism and news.”

Smith still has a long journey ahead of him. However, he has achieved a lot at DHS and he plans to succeed much more at Harvard University and after college as a politician.