LEWISTON — Safiya Said Khalid campaigned for a seat on the city’s school board as a junior in college. She didn’t get it, but she’s not done running.

Safiya Said Khalid (Photo courtesy Emmie Jones Photography)

And Khalid, a 2014 Lewiston High School grad, wants to help others run in the meantime.

“I was doing a full-time job, full-time school and I saw a need for more representation at the table,” she said of the 2017 race. “There’s a large portion of diverse new Mainers in the public schools. I’m a Lewiston public school product. I know the ins and outs.”

Khalid, 22, moved with her family to the United States from Somalia around age 5, settling briefly in New Jersey.

“We couldn’t adjust to the culture and the environment, and we heard about Maine,” she said. “This is the place I call home. It’s where I grew up. It opened its arms to me and my family in so many ways, it’s very friendly and safe, regardless of what other people say.”

She graduated from the University of Southern Maine in May with a degree in psychology and business administration. After a short internship at the Maine Department of Labor, Khalid left to the work for the Maine Democratic Party recruiting volunteers.

She’d like to start pursuing a law degree in one to two years and has considered running for the City Council’s Ward 5 seat.

“After that, there’s more positions to work for,” Khalid said. “I have a dream of becoming, if not a state, a national politician.

“We need a lot of young people, from all backgrounds, to be involved in politics,” she added. “More young people, more representation, especially more women in office, especially with what’s going on right now.”

In the run-up to Election Day, “it’s all about work, work, work,” Khalid said, but when she’s able to fit in a little fun, that means going to the gym, reading and spending time with friends and family.

Back in high school, she wasn’t the sort of person to walk up to a stranger and try to engage them.

“I wasn’t like the loud kid, and then that changed as I saw that I have to change,” said Khalid. “In politics, you have to talk.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com