Former Governor Jim Hodges of South Carolina

1/03/2017

Governor Jim Hodges

c/o  McGuireWoods LLP

1301 Gervais Street, Suite 1050

Columbia, SC  29201

Dear Governor Hodges,

My name is Matthew Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan with a strong interest in learning history including public policy.  In these subjects, I like to learn the need to make Civil Rights stronger in order to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, find ways to improve education to make learning a better place, and many others.  Governor Hodges, the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work 114^th Governor of South Carolina to be very inspiring to me.

When you served as 114^th Governor of South Carolina from 1999-2003, I was very proud on how you were a strong supporter of Civil Rights. Also on Civil Rights, I liked on how you were an advocate for people with disabilities’ rights, support funding women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy, express the need for women to have equal pay, and support the ideas of the Equal Rights Amendment to help protect women from being discriminated based on gender even though the state legislature didn’t pass it.  On the environment, I like your approach like supporting funds for renewable energy (wind, solar, biofuel, and energy efficient products) and pushing for superfunds to help clean up rivers along with parks to make them safe for people to use.  On the Martin Luther King Jr, issue, I was very proud on how you added Martin Luther King Holiday to the state official calendars to help honor MLK’s work on Civil Rights and to help educate people about the need to continue to make Civil Rights stronger to reduce discrimination.  Another thing that I liked about your role as Governor of South Carolina is how you had the courage to remove the confederate flag from the state capitol’s dome to it’s ground to help restore confidence on people who are different and to reduce racism when other state legislatures weren’t advocates on this issue.   Your approach on education reform like providing schools with money to help fix schools to make them safe for students to learn, funding special education to help students with disabilities get educational resources that they need, and launching “First Steps to School Readiness” to have early childhood education to help them improve their reading skills along with expand comprehension are great ways to have education reform. After you lost your re-election for another term, I’m very proud on how you continue to advocate for education reform, express the need to make Civil Rights stronger, support people with disabilities’ rights, and many others.  

Governor Hodges, I have Autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different subjects including learning new tasks, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased.   Another thing is during my educational years ranging from elementary school through Washtenaw Community College, my community college I struggled on learning different subjects including getting teased by other people about having a disability. However, in Spring 2014 I was able to get an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts in my community college. My main focus in my Associates Degree is history, government, some businesses, some science, and science.  Your commitment to be a strong supporter of Civil Rights, be an advocate for people with disabilities’ rights, and be a strong supporter of education reform really inspires me to work hard on my disability, continue to learn different subjects when I face different challenges, and many others. Even though I’m not in school anymore, I continue my interest in learning different subjects especially history with public policy by watching different documentaries with subtitles to help improve myself on vocabulary along with help me understand different topics, research along with writing letters to public officials through former public officials or celebrities to help me understand more about their work with how they inspire me, and visit historical sites or museums to help expand my learning.   Your role as 114^th Governor of South Carolina motivates me to continue my interest in learning history with public policy.   My future goal is to someday work in public policy or history to help create common sense ideas to make society better.

Governor Hodges, I strongly believe that you made great achievements in your role as Governor of South Carolina. I’m very proud on how you worked hard to make a great difference for society and had the courage to oppose the Confederate flag.  You have inspired me to work hard on my disability  and to continue my interest in learning history.  Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, making great achievements as Governor, and inspiring me.  I wish you well for the future and to continue to advocate for great common sense ideas.

Sincerely,

Matthew B. Winick