I first met Bob Ehrlich in the spring of 2000. I was 7 years old, and I wrote him a letter as part of a school project. I told him how important the private school education that I was receiving was to me.

At the time, Bob was a U.S. Congressman from Marylands Second District. His legislative district included most of Baltimore County and small parts of two other counties. His office was in Washington, D.C., along with all of the other members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Several weeks later, I received a letter in the mail from Bob. I was so excited that he had personally written back to me. In the letter, he invited me to visit him at his office in Washington. My parents were on the phone the next day to arrange a date for the visit!

Several weeks later, on May 4th, my parents and I drove to Washington to visit Congressman Ehrlich. He took us into his office and spent about thirty minutes talking to me about my schoolwork and my interests. His office was really big, and there was a beautiful, large wooden desk in it where Bob did his work. He also had many photographs and pictures on the walls of his office. Most of these had something to do with the State of Maryland or were photographs that were taken while Bob was in Congress.

I told Bob that I would be seeing him again that night at the annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, which was going to be held in Hunt Valley, a suburb of Baltimore. He gave me a copy of the speech that he was going to give that night at the dinner. I knew exactly what he was going to say ahead of time!

Before we said good-bye, Bob gave my family and me passes to visit the House of Representatives, and then I had my picture taken with him. Then, after we left his office, we walked across the street and saw the United States House of Representatives in session.

Later that night when we saw Bob again, he said, Long time no see! That made me laugh, and it was fun to be able to read the speech to myself as Bob delivered it to the audience.

I remember my dad saying how impressed he was with Bob after meeting him that day. I liked Bob a lot too. So when he decided to run for Governor of Maryland in 2002, I wanted to help his campaign.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2002, I attended and helped out at many events for Bob Ehrlich. I discovered that there are many things that kids can learn about politics by becoming involved. So many kids my age dont know anything about how people run for political office, what their jobs are all about or how much fun a campaign can be. This is not only a story about the life of Bob Ehrlich and his campaign for Governor, but also my story. It tells how I became involved and how I found ways to help make a difference during his 2002 campaign for Governor of Maryland

Bob Ehrlich was born on November 25, 1957 in Arbutus, Maryland. Arbutus is a small community located just outside of Baltimore City. Most of Bobs neighbors had lived in the neighborhood for many years. Bobs mother, Nancy, was a legal secretary and his dad, Bob Ehrlich Sr. was a car salesman at a local car dealership. Bob Sr. worked as a commission-only salesman, which means he only made money when he actually sold a car. Because of this, the Ehrlichs lived comfortably, but were never rich. While he was growing up, Bob learned valuable lessons from his parents such as the importance of character, honesty, hard work and being responsible for his own actions. Bob once said, Those lessons stay with you throughout your life.

Bob also loved playing sports. He mostly played baseball and football. By the time that Bob was a teenager, he had become a very good football player. One day while at work, Bobs dad met the coach of the Gilman School, which was a very exclusive private school in Baltimore. He told the coach that his son was a very good football player and that he should come to see him play sometime. Sure enough, the following weekend the coach came to see Bob play. By the time the game was over, the coach knew that he would like to have Bob attend his school. A couple of weeks later, Bob took the entrance exam for Gilman, and he was eventually offered a full scholarship. Bob was able to attend Gilman for free because he was such a good student and a talented athlete.

Things did not come easy for Bob in high school. Most of the other students in the school came from rich families with fancy houses and cars. Because Bob didnt, he had to prove himself to his new classmates every day during those first months in school. The other big challenge for Bob was the amount of schoolwork at Gilman. Young Bob knew that he was going to have to work really hard to achieve good grades. Bob spent many nights studying past midnight to keep up with his studies.

As time went on, Bob proved himself to be a good student and an even better athlete. During his senior year, he was elected captain of the football team and won All-State and All-American honors. Bob graduated from high school in 1975.

After high school, Bob attended Princeton University, where he studied political science and continued to play football. He was the co-captain of the football team. Bob graduated from Princeton in 1979 and then entered law school at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.