Wednesday, February 28, 2001
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Wednesday, February 28, 2001 |
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Marcy Westmoreland may follow in father's footsteps Like her father, state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Sharpsburg, Georgia State University senior Marcy Westmoreland is politically conservative. Still, they don't always share the same views so they avoid going head-to-head by keeping their mouths shut. "We try not to talk politics because we both think we're right," says Marcy, a Fayetteville native who returned to college two years ago after working for several years as a flight attendant. Marcy, a political science major, isn't sure whether she wants to follow her dad, now serving as House minority leader, into elected office. But she's getting a taste of political life this semester as an intern at the state Capitol, where she works in a nonpartisan office that researches bill-related issues for state senators. During the recent Georgia flag controversy, she examined the possible effect of a threatened economic boycott on the state. Upon graduating this spring, Marcy plans to head for Washington, D.C., to look for a job doing political research. She says her journey into politics has as much to do with Georgia State as with her upbringing in a political family. "Back when I was 18, I never dreamed I'd be doing this," says Marcy, 25, a graduate of Landmark Christian School in Fairburn. A policy research class and the opportunity to participate in the political science internship program were major sources of inspiration for her future career, she says. The university is also convenient to the Westmoreland family home in Sharpsburg, where Marcy lives with her father and mother Joan. "Georgia State's urban location allows students to get experience and a good education at the same time," says Marcy, who adds she may attend the university's law school after spending a year in Washington. She says she treasures the international travel that her years as a flight attendant gave her, but that going back to school was inevitable. "My father said his one wish before he dies is for all of his children to graduate from college," says Marcy, who has a sister, Heather, and a brother, Trae. "I was the only one who hadn't."
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