Name: Neil Spencer
Year: Senior
Hometown: Cocoa Beach, FL
Majors: Political Science, International Affairs
Focus: History
Relationship Status: Single
Courtesy: Neil Spencer
Her Campus (HC): Hey, Neil! Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Neil Spencer (NS): Well Iām big into politics. Iām also a huge baseball fan and cheer on the Marlins every year for better or for worse. I think my calling guard is that people always recognize me by my hat and flannel jacket that I always have on. My friends even say, āYou know, I donāt think Iāve ever seen you without a hat.ā But other than that Iām President of Noles Want Bernie and Iām involved with the FSU Lions Club doing community service. I also do some stuff with the Democratic Party, but I want to expand my horizons after the campaign is over. Iāve been pretty consumed with the campaign for now so I havenāt been able to do much else.
HC: Thatās definitely understandable. So you definitely seem to enjoy politics. What is it that sparked your love for it?
NS: I got really interested in it senior year of high school by my AP US History teacher. I was always kind of interested in presidents and learning about what they did and who they were, even before I took that class. In APUSH we talked a lot about policy and looking at the bigger picture, and it was really him that did it for me. Then I had a friend who was very negative, and his whole thing was that politics was too corrupt and you couldnāt fix it. The only reason we canāt fix it, though, is because of people like him who say things like that and arenāt willing to put in the effort, and thatās when I really thought about it being something I wanted to do. I had thought about politics as a career avenue before, and even looked into broadcast journalism, but it was then that it just kind of clicked in my head like, āyou know what, I could do that.ā
HC: How about Bernie Sanders? What ignited your support?
NS: Iām a denizen of the internet, and on Reddit thereās a thread called āOur Politics,ā and there was always something about Senator Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. This was back about a year ago and I just kept seeing more and more of him so I kept him on my radar, but at the time I really liked Warren. Well, a week before he announced his candidacy I decided to look into him, see what people were talking about, and watched a few of his interviews. What he was saying made a lot of sense to me, and from there on it was just kind of a growing little thing. I watched him announcement speech and got kind of excited, and then just kept tabs on him over the summer, watching a bunch of his rallies. Then in early July I posted in an FSU page about wanted to start up a group to see if anyone was interested and from there I just kind of took charge and grew into the supporter that I am today.
HC: And then Noles Want Bernie began. Thatās really interesting. So what is it exactly that you enjoy about politics?
NS: Iām going to be fair, I donāt like politics. Itās a very divisive thing. People hear what they want to hear, just like human nature, and I think politics in itself isnāt something fun to get into. Maybe advocating for a policy issues, but I donāt do politics because I think it is fun. I do it because I think there are things that need to be done. I welcome a challenge, and itās not necessarily fun. Itās quite frustrating in all honesty. But I like to get people engaged. I like to make sure people understand whatās going on, get them informed. Thatās why I was kind of interested in broadcast journalism. I wanted to speak truth to power and all that kind of stuff, because I always thought the media has an inherent bias since I was young. All these news stations spout the same bullsh*t with a different tongue, and I think politics is an avenue for speaking truth to power, and thatās why I gravitate towards Sanders because he does just that. So itās not fun necessarily. Itās a great outlet I can use in order to help people though.
HC: I like that it keeps coming back to helping people and making a real change. Do you think Bernie has the power to really change the world? And how about you. Do you think you have the power to do the same?
NS: I will say for both of those questions itās a no and no answer, but itās a little more complicated than that. Bernie has always said that itās not just him. No one politician can do anything. You can be a figure head, but itās not just that one person. It wasnāt just MLK, or Abraham Lincoln, or Nelson Mandela. Itās always about the seeds that you plant and the grassroots that you make come up. In that sort of way I donāt think I have the individual power to do anything, and I donāt think Sanders has the individual power to do anything, but when I think people become more aware and involved and active, thatās when we as a collective body get actual change. In Bernieās campaigning he says all the time that he cannot do this alone. It has got to come from millions of people that realize theyāre in a sh*tty position. Itās not about the people on top. Change never comes from the top-down. If it did then nothing would ever change. So itās never just one person, or two people. Itās got to be a group of people.
HC: You definitely seem very passionate about all of this. What else would you say youāre passionate about?
NS: As a broad thing Iām very much against what I see as bullying. As a kid almost everyone gets bullied. I myself was bullied, and it always kind of struck a chord with me. I hated people that used their friend groups or their popularity or their perceived power to push around people that didnāt seem as well off, and I think thatās what sort of drives me to be as big of an advocate for the little guys as I can be. I look at people that have mass amounts of wealth and I just think that their power and ability to throw their weight behind their punch is so much more than what any of us can do as an individual. Iāve never enjoyed looking at people abuse their real or perceived power, and thatās always struck a chord with me. I donāt know if its empathy so much as I understand when something is kind of screwed up in the world. Itās what drives me, because I canāt stand it. I canāt stand looking at that.
HC: Is there anything that you feel is important for people to know about you?
NS: I want people to understand that if you ever look at me Iām never going to be someone that will be perfect, or you think knows exactly what theyāre doing. Everyone has their flaws, and theyāre trying to get things accomplished, so I just try. Every day I go out, say Iām having a rough day, and I try to just make it through for other people so that way others can have a happier day. I think people should go through life and just try their best and make others happy. Thatās what I strive for in my life.