Illinois democratic congressman of the Fifth District Mike Quigley walked into the auditorium on Wednesday, October 12 cracking jokes as he took the mike. “You’re late,” Quigley said to the audience. “You all get detention.” Lines like these during the Morning Ex got the audience laughing repeatedly through his presentation.

Despite his being a member of the House of Representatives for seven years, Quigley’s talk focused less on politics and more on life advice for the assembled students. Quigley began by talking about his foray into the world of politics. “Literally as young as I can remember,” Quigley said, “I wanted to do what I do now.” He went on to explain that it’s hard for him to give advice to others because, as he emphasized, “You have to find your own way.”

Quigley said that even though grades are important, in the “real world” people will not care if you got an A in history. “Education is wildly important and being smart is extraordinarily important,” Quigley said. “But, as corny as it sounds, ‘I will’ is a lot more important than ‘IQ.’”

The most valuable asset students have, according to Quigley, is the ability to learn as much as they can about everything through taking a wide variety of classes in order to be a knowledgeable, well-rounded citizen. The example he gave was the conflict in the Middle East–he reasoned that if the politicians making decisions about Iraq and Afghanistan had a greater understanding of their cultures, the world might not be in as large of a mess as it is today.

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, was Quigley’s way of explaining what he thought was one of the most important guiding principles of his life: that, as Atticus Finch says in the novel, people need to walk around in the shoes of others.

Quigley remarked that while the largest fear most adults have is public speaking, these fears need to be conquered. “If you’re afraid of it,” he said, “do it.” Facing one’s fears, he argued, means that your fears cannot control what you do with your life.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t change the world,” Quigley said. “You can. And you have the moral responsibility to at least try.”

Following his talk was the customary question and answer period. Questions included inquiries about Edward Snowden, which led Quigley to speak forcefully.  “Snowden gave the bad guys the keys to the kingdom,” he said, and “Snowden was not a hero.”  People who chose not to vote, he said, do so inexcusably.   And whom will he be voting for in November? Hillary Clinton–this received thunderous applause.

After the Morning Ex in an interview with “The Weekly,” Quigley stated his view on a couple of topics relating to Illinois. One of his largest concerns is the state debt and the discord within Springfield. “If the disagreements in Springfield don’t get settled,” Quigley said, “there are no matching funds for the programs I want to maintain in the district.”

“Mike Quigley was really entertaining to listen to,” junior Grace Philip said. “He seems like a friendly guy.”