This post originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cody Mello-Klein.
Omar Mohuddin is in constant motion.
When he's not taking classes at Northeastern University, the freshman business administration student is working part-time at Reading Cooperative Bank. When he's not working at the bank, he's doing homework. And when he's not doing homework, he's working on his most ambitious goal: running for mayor of Woburn, Massachusetts.
Mohuddin announced his campaign in March, pitting himself against Scott Galvin, the incumbent mayor who is currently serving his sixth term in office, and Mike Concannon, a former state police major. If Mohuddin, 19, were to win in November, it would make him the youngest mayor in Massachusetts history.
But Mohuddin, a lifelong Woburn resident who still lives in the city with his mother, a Somalian immigrant, and his brothers, hopes that voters will see beyond his age and recognize his passion, experience and investment in changing his community for the better.
“My campaign is going to be something where I come in and I change Woburn, win or lose,” Mohuddin says. “I don't think that it should be a bad thing that I'm young. Everyone should be considered for what they are, who they are and what they're doing rather than just the number that defines their age.”