Eric Johnson is a man of many titles and not of the WWE variation.

Johnson, a senior public administration major, serves as student trustee and is a member of the DeKalb County Board. He could hardly have imagined being so involved with the community and politics growing up because his parents weren’t political at all. But Johnson got an early start in student government at NIU and has never looked back.

“I was lucky; the senate we had my freshman year was a very opinionated, very vocal group that took on a lot of topics and just really sparked my interest,” Johnson said. “It was a unique group of people and characters in the senate that lead to my passion for student government.”

The very Republican Johnson actually grew up thinking he was a Democrat, having worked in a union during high school from which he received anti-Bush material.

In college, he soon discovered he agreed more with the “Republican way of thinking” and became the chairman of the NIU College Republican chapter from 2002 to 2004.

In November 2002, Johnson was elected to the DeKalb County Board in District 6 by a stunning mandate – nine votes.

“It’s intimidating running in a county election at just 19, and I think my Democratic opponents didn’t take me seriously, so they were surprised when I won,” he said. “My opponents were all at least 15 years older than me.”

Johnson’s victory didn’t come without some controversy, though: There was a recount.

“My friends joked with me, first the president, now me,” he said.

Student Association President Craig Marcus said he has enjoyed sitting back and absorbing the knowledge Johnson had to share during their time working together.

“I’ve enjoyed working with him, as he is very knowledgeable about the community and national policies and the government in general,” Marcus said.

Johnson said his role of student trustee has given him a great deal of perspective.

“Being a student trustee is a different type of experience,” he said. “It’s an atmosphere that you deal with board members more than with students. I learned a lot from NIU board members. They were amazing and open.”

Johnson said he hopes he can use his vast resume to further a successful political career.

“I’m hoping to [go into politics] and currently I have been doing various interviews with the state of Illinois and various Republican candidates,” Johnson said. “Although, I’m not entirely 100 percent sure, I might still go on to graduate school and continue the college life.”

Johnson has applications in at a few colleges but made it clear that his No. 1 choice would be George Washington University.

With baseball season starting, Johnson said he would once again be rooting for the Chicago Cubs to end their World Series drought but is only cautiously optimistic.

“Being a Cubs fan, you learn to deal with heartache,” he said.

Oddly enough, being a Cubs fan may help Johnson deal with losing political races in his future.

“Losing is a part of politics – it’s being able to believe in what you did and get up and try again that matters,” he said. “It took Ronald Reagan three primaries before he became president, and then in the 1984 presidential race he had the biggest win of any president, which shows you that you can’t give up.”