Scott Air Force Base teen meets President Obama during trip to Washington, D.C.

Corbin Robinson hopes to one day serve others, whether in public office himself or working for someone in elected office.

The 18-year-old Mascoutah High School senior recently got to experience life in Washington, D.C., as an Illinois delegate to the 54th annual U.S. Senate Youth Program. Corbin was one of only two delegates from Illinois. The other was Kiley Marron, of Chicago.

“It was an honor to be able to join the United States Senate Youth Program and to represent the state of Illinois as well as my counter delegate from Illinois, Kiley Marron from the Chicago area,” Corbin said.

The Scott Air Force Base teen had the opportunity to meet President Barrack Obama during his trip to D.C.

“He spent about an hour with the whole group doing a Q&A session,” Corbin said. “Personally, I got maybe 20 seconds, because I’m an Illinois delegate and he’s from Illinois. He meets with the Hawaii and Illinois delegates personally just before the group Q&A. It was just 20, 25 seconds, just asking where I’m from. He thanked my dad and my family for our service to the military.”

Corbin applied to be a part of the program with the St. Clair County Regional Board of Education. He was then notified he was a semifinalist for the program and was invited to participate in a group interview session in Springfield.

“We were asked some general questions about ourselves, and then we had 10-minute sessions to debate issues with each other in front of the judges panel,” Corbin said.

He found out he was selected as one of two finalists through a large packet in the mail from Hearst Foundations.

“It was a pretty exhilarating moment to realize I was one of 104 students in the whole nation who gets to participate in this prestigious program,” Corbin said.

The U.S. Senate Youth Program was created in 1962 and annually brings 104 outstanding high school students — two from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity — to Washington, D.C., for an intensive, week-long study of the federal government and its leaders. In addition to the program week, the Hearst Foundations fund the program and provide each student with a $5,000 undergraduate college scholarship, with encouragement to continue coursework in government, history and public affairs.

“This highly competitive program provides students a rare firsthand look at the inner workings of our political system and the democratic process and helps foster a deep interest in public service and civic engagement,” Illinois State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith said in a statement. “Kiley and Corbin’s selection is a huge accomplishment.”

Before moving to Illinois, Corbin served as a Senate page of the North Carolina General Assembly in 2014 and volunteered for the Harnett County Teen Court. Corbin plans to study economics and pre-law in college.

He is an intern at the Belleville office of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro. Bost described Corbin as an “amazing young man” with a “great knowledge” of how government works.

He is also a Running Start student at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. Running Start allows eligible high school students to obtain their high school diploma and associate’s degree simultaneously.

“I’ll get my associate’s degree two days before my high school diploma,” Corbin said with a smile.

Next school year, he plans to attend St. Louis University. He was awarded a presidential scholarship, which means his tuition is covered.

He wants to study business administration with a concentration in economics and a possible minor in political science or history. After that, it’s on to law school.

“I’d like to get into the public service realm whether that means run for office myself or work as an aid to someone else who is in office,” he said. “I’d probably get my career in law up and running before I get into politics. It’s good to have that real world background before you go into public-policy making.”

Q: What got you interested in public service?

A: “The idea that you are working for the people. The whole legal aspect of it interests me. The whole actually writing policy interests me. The opportunity to go and know what you do every day is affecting many people’s lives, and that you’re answering to people and you’re carrying their voice, whether it be to Springfield or Jefferson City or D.C. That you are carrying the voice of the people.”

Q: How was your week in D.C.?

A: “It was a lot of fun. We got to meet a lot of high-profile people. We got to meet President Barack Obama in the east room of the White House. We had a small Q&A session with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We got to meet several senators — Senator (Cory) Gardner (from Colorado), Senator (Mazie) Hirono from Hawaii and Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee. ... It was a blessing to be able to spend the week with 104 other student delegates who were some of the best and brightest students from across the country. To be able to come together in D.C. — the capital of our country — and to share our political ideologies with each other, to be able to debate the issues and just talk with like-minded people. It was an excellent experience. It opened my eyes a lot.”

Q: What did the President talk about with the group?

A: “We talked about a wide range of things — some public policy, what it was like for him to run for office being a junior senator when he ran. We talked about the Constitution and certain things that maybe we would change in the Constitution if we could go back and rewrite it during those times. Overall, it was an interesting discussion. It was bouncing ideas off the President, which was a pretty cool thing to do.”

Q: Were you able to visit any of the landmarks in D.C.?

A: “We went to the FDR Memorial. We went to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial. We got to see the Vietnam Memorial. We went to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. We kind of fit them in as much as we could. It was fun to see those. It was fun to see them with the other delegates.”

Q: How many places have you lived?

A: “I was born in Alton. I moved to Kentucky and then Virginia; then Florida; then Shawnee, Kansas; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; North Carolina; and now Scott Air Force Base — eight places.”

Q: Do you have any advice for other military kids who move around a lot?

A: “You have to be outgoing whether you are an introvert or not. When you walk in anywhere, you just have to walk up to somebody and start talking to them, shake their hand and introduce yourself. They may think it’s weird at first, but eventually, you will become friends. It’s worked out many times for me. You have to realize, don’t be afraid to look stupid in front of others. Just put yourself out there. ... If you don’t want to talk to people, you are not doing yourself any good. Open your mouth and talk to people; it’s the best way to go about it.”

Q: You serve as state vice president for the Illinois Future Business Leaders of America for the Southwestern area. What does that position entail?

A: “I represent about 12 high schools, around 600 students. I do several different things. I represent the state association at different national conferences. I travel to other organizations’ conferences in Illinois. I went to the Illinois Business Educators Association conference. I represented FBLA here in Illinois there. We plan our area conference, which we hosted at Kaskaskia College in January. That was where students came together to hear different speakers and compete in events. I was the prime organizer of that event. Next month, we will have our state conference in April up in Springfield. I’ll play a small role in that. My term is coming to a close soon.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Scott Air Force Base teen meets President Obama during trip to Washington, D.C.."