Anna Pope (OSU)
During his first session, Lt. Gov. Jonathan Salcedo-Naylor’s won best delegate in the senate and made it as a semifinalist in the Moot Court competition during his freshman year, but it would not have been possible if it were not for his love of law and politics, and the need to outdo his then-girlfriend, now wife Chief-Justice Karina Salcedo.
Salcedo-Naylor joined O.I.L. during his first semester of his freshman year in college. He said he knew about the organization because Salcedo was already a member of O.I.L. but once he got involved in O.I.L. he poured himself into the competition. As a result of this, he fell in love with the members, made friends with delegates from Oral Roberts University (ORU) many of whom have graduated.
In addition to the friendships he made in O.I.L. and the opportunity to pursue something he and his wife are both passionate about, he said seeing his delegation succeed and having legislation signed by the governor are great memories he has of his time in O.I.L. After a little while in O.I.L. he said multiple delegates that joined at the same time as he did, chose to run for leadership positions.
“It just worked out, I fell in love with the people (in the organization) and then all of us around the same time decided, ‘You know what, let’s go run this organization that we all love so very much,’” Salcedo-Naylor said.
This led to him winning the office of lieutenant governor. Salcedo-Naylor said being in leadership can be beneficial to the organization and help it progress and become the best it can be, but also it just depends on what the leader puts effort into during their time in office.
“You can have a vast impact on the organization through this role or you can just sit back and allow others to do it for you,” Salcedo-Naylor said.
While he is retiring this semester and is in a sense devastated he is leaving, he is grateful to those succeeding him and Gov. Lacey Hickey. Salcedo-Naylor said he is utterly grateful for his experience in O.I.L. He said at the very least, during the five-day session delegates understand whether this organization is something they wish to be a part of and at the most, delegates are going to build strong relationships with other members, discover a love for what they do and be able to put this experience on their resume.
“There are very few people that get to do something as amazing as O.I.L.in their time in college… Anybody that is even considering politics, or even the press, or even law school this is something that you should try because it is going to prepare you better than anything else you could ever do,” Salcedo-Naylor said.