For most people, being the President of the United States is just a whimsical idea. For sophomore Quincey Epley, it is more than a dream; she wants to make it a reality. Epley had her mind set on being president in her freshman year. “Last year when I was in civics, I realized that the people that were running weren’t that good. I felt like I could do what they were doing, but better,” Epley said.

Epley began to announce her candidacy when Hillary Clinton came about. “It was right after Hillary accepted the first nomination of a female in a major party,” she said. “I was watching the DNC and talking to a few of my friends in journalism, and made a shirt and announced it.” Epley has a detailed plan for her candidacy in 2036. In the future, Epley has decided to go to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton for college and major in law. “I want to run for the House of Representatives as soon as I can, and do that for a while,” Epley said. “When I turn 34 I’ll officially announce that I am running for president and then, by the time of the election, I’ll be 35 years old,” Epley said.

For Epley’s presidency, her overall goal is to have equal opportunity for everyone. “Like people in the LGBTQA+ community, racial minorities, people of different social statuses, or religions. I just want our country to work well for everybody in it,” said Epley. “A lot of things will change in the next 20 years. So, my plans are going to change,” Epley said.

Last year before heading to the journalism state competition, Epley asked Ethan Darling, former Bulldogger editor, what to tweet to notify the public about the competition. Darling had told her to tweet out, ‘Yep it’s happening.’ “Whenever people ask me if I am really running for president, I tell them, ‘Yep it’s happening’,” she said. “I think if I become president, I can do a lot of things for the country and then the world. That’s just one of my goals.”

When everyone had doubts of Epley’s capabilities to run for president, she is dead serious about it. “Everybody at first thought that it was a joke, people didn’t believe me,” she said. “My parents and my family has been really supportive about it and my decisions.” Her role models include feminist icons Harriet Tubman, Michelle Obama, and Malala Yousafzai. “They are all just strong women who worked or is working really hard to make a positive impact on the world,” she said. “They’ve all had to overcome so many obstacles in their lives to get where they are today.”

Epley may be young and she has many years ahead of her to think of a different career choice, but being president will always be her number one choice. Epley is taking a chance and she is following her dreams. She blocks all of the negative comments and does what Epley is going to do. “If I get elected in 2036, I will be the youngest president that we would have ever had, and hopefully the second or third female president,” Epley said. “If I get elected, then it will break down the barrier of girls thinking that they are less. It shows them that they can have the same opportunities,” Epley said.