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Alumni Testimonials
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Langdon Ogburn
Delegate Year: 2016 - Governor
Langdon was born and raised in Raleigh, NC. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2021, commissioning as an officer in the US Army. As the winner of a Marshall Scholarship, he is currently continuing his education at King’s College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. Following the conclusion of his scholarship, he will return to the active Army and attend military intelligence officer training.
“THBS was the first time I ever seriously considered joining the US Military, a decision that would ultimately change the course of my life. It exposed me to what a career in public service means and made me reconsider what kind of life I wanted to live.”
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Bill Wang
Delegate Year: 2013 — Boys Nation Senator
Bill is from Chapel Hill. For college, he attended both UNC-Chapel Hill and the National University of Singapore on a joint-degree program, spending about half his undergraduate in Singapore. After graduating, he was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship by the State Department and returned to Southeast Asia to learn the Indonesian Language. Currently, he is an operations analyst at Noyo, an insurance technology startup based in NC working to streamline data transfer for the insurance industry. He will attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School in fall of 2022.
“THBS, and especially the moot court program, was one of my first experiences in government and law. My interest in law and the courts, which led me to law school, was first sparked by my role as Chief Justice of THBS.”
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Andrew Pardue
Delegate Year: 2011
Andrew hails from Nashville, NC and attended Harvard College and William & Mary Law School. He is now based in Washington, DC where he works as an election and campaign finance lawyer at Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky Josefiak PLLC.
“I can honestly say that I would not be working in the field I am today if I had not attended Tar Heel Boys State. THBS spurred the interest in politics that led me to study government at Harvard and constitutional law in law school, experiences which prepared me for my current role representing candidates and elected officials in election-related legal matters.”
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Tarik Woods
Delegate Year: 2015
Tarik is from Salisbury. He studied economics and philosophy at UNC-Chapel Hill. Now he works as a policy analyst with The Hunt Institute, an educational policy non-profit based in Cary.
“Boys State gave me my first glimpse into what it takes to compromise and work together for the sake of the greater good. Throughout all the laughs and memories, we also bonded over a mutual appreciation of being North Carolinians.”
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Preston Knowles
Delegate Year: 2007
Preston is from a small, tobacco, farming town: Reidsville, NC. Home to the Lucky Strike cigarette infamous to WWII soldiers. Preston went on to graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in Economics. Currently, he is located in Washington, DC, and has served with numerous advocacy, NGO, public affairs, and political organizations. Most notably he has served as a VP of Paid Media for the CDC, DoD, and other defense contractors such as Oshkosh Defense and Huntington Ingalls.
“THBS gave me the confidence and institutional knowledge needed to navigate complex political endeavors. Without THBS, I would not be where I am today.”
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Alex Werden
Delegate Year: 2012
Alex is from Chapel Hill. After graduating from Chapel Hill High School in 2013 he went to both UNC-Chapel Hill and the US Military Academy at West Point and graduated with a B.S. in History in 2018 before commissioning as an Army Infantry Officer. He is currently the Commander of the 14th Public Affairs Detachment at Fort Carson, Colorado.
What did you enjoy at THBS?
“How quickly young men from all across the state had to work together to develop cohesive teams capable of turning around quality arguments and products while learning how to build and manage a political ecosystem.”
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Danny Chubb
Delegate Year: 2012
Danny is from Concord. He studied finance at Wake Forest University. Currently, he works as a financial analyst for a credit hedge fund called Gulf Stream Asset Management in Charlotte.
What did you enjoy at THBS?
“Meeting guys from all over NC with diverse backgrounds and getting a preview of what college life would be like. I also enjoyed learning more about the intricacies of government and the guest speakers.”