Distinguished Teen Service

Every now and then a person appears on the scene that has that special something that makes others sit up and take notice. This special person often emerges as the leader of the group. When this person is still in high school, you can't help but wonder what the future holds. We think that's true of Mark Sohl, a Cordova High School senior, who has emerged as a leader among the leaders over at the Home of the Lancers. 

Mark has been elected president of just about everything he ever showed an interest in at Cordova High. He is president of the Filipino Club. He was president of both his sophomore and junior classes. When his senior year rolled around, he felt it was time to give somebody else the opportunity to have the class president experience. He was moving on.

As a senior, Mark holds down two huge student leadership jobs.

He is one of Cordova High School's Activities Commissioners, elected to the post by his peers at Student Government. It is one of the most demanding posts for a student at Cordova, and he and his co-commissioner plan a wide range of student activities at Cordova High. Everybody familiar with the post said it takes an enormous amount of work and a special talent for leadership to pull it off.

That would probably be enough. But for Mark, the work had just begun.

Mark was also president (of course) of the Student Advisory Board, which has representatives from all of the high schools in Rancho Cordova and Folsom. That elevated him to yet another leadership position. Now, he's the student member of the Folsom Cordova Unified Board of Education.

At the school board it is Mark's job to bring a student perspective to school board deliberations. But the road runs both ways and Mark refers to his fellow board members as "really cool colleagues to talk with."

Board member Zak Ford had this to say: "Mark is a great representative for Cordova High, our city and our district. He makes me proud of my old high school and the current crop of Lancers. He has a great future."

Board member Teresa Stanley had this observation: "Mark is the most participatory, proactive, hard working student representative with whom I have served in my 16 years on the board. He will go on to make a Mark (get it?) On the world."

Mark will graduate this spring near the top of his class and dreams of having a political career someday. He has chosen to pursue his education at Sac State because, he reasons, Sacramento is the capital of California, and at the center of the action. He's looking for an internship with an elected official at the state or federal level, in case anybody here is interested.

This month, PBS television has been broadcasting a two-part series about President Bill Clinton. It reveals a young man whose story was not unlike Mark's. In his case, after serving as president of his sophomore and junior classes, Bill Clinton's principal barred him from running for senior class president to give somebody else a chance. Sound familiar?

In an era when political figures often rank at the bottom of the respect meter, it is refreshing and comforting to know that wonderful young people from our own community aspire to lead. In fact, it is the only way our city, our state and even our country will succeed into the future.

Mark, it is in the hands of young people such as yourself our future rests. Congratulations on an outstanding high school career and best wishes as you carry what you have learned here in Rancho Cordova on to the next level.

When the time comes to launch your adult political career, we hope you will look favorably upon you hometown of Rancho Cordova. Everybody has to start someplace and at the end of the day, there's no place like home.