As election season draws to a close, many candidates for elected offices are anticipating this first Tuesday of November. Recently, Stinger interviewed a candidate for the DuPage County Board, Mr. Baron Leacock. Leacock grew up in Darien, attended Eisenhower Jr. High, and graduated from Hinsdale South as part of the Class of 1996. After high school, he attended Harvard University and then Columbia Law School in New York City. He now resides in Hinsdale.
Throughout his youth, Leacock was a driven student, inspired by his family’s achievements and successes. His sisters attended the University of Illinois and Princeton after graduating from Hinsdale South: “I think growing up, you know, there was a bit of an expectation that we would do the best we could academically and get into, try to get into really good schools.”
Along with his sisters, he was most motivated by his father, who grew up in Barbados. “He had very humble beginnings,” Leacock said, “He grew up without running water or electricity, and didn’t have his own pair of shoes until he was an adult.” However, through these challenges, Leacock’s father went on to study law in London. There, he met Leacock’s mother, and would later move back to the United States to build a family.
As a student at South, Leacock participated in the music program, playing the snare drum in the marching band. Also, he ran track during his time there. While being an outstanding student, Leacock wasn’t sure of his career path after high school.
“Trying to figure [career] out actually prevented me from making progress,” Mr. Leacock said. “Anything you do is the right thing to do…pay attention to what you’re good at, pay attention to what’s interesting and what you like.” While at Harvard as an undergraduate, he was fascinated by the psychology courses, but still went on to pursue law. From law to real estate to tax consultation, Leacock found that he’s “taken a piece from everything [he’s] done so far.”
Running for DuPage County Board, Mr. Leacock feels that South’s surrounding areas are “phenomenal societies and communities”. Since becoming a parent, he feels more invested in his children’s and the next generation’s future and thus inspired him to consider candidacy.
“And you know, you want your children to have the kind of opportunity that you had, or in my case, that my father provided for us,” Leacock said, “And so then all the headaches and all the more intimidating things about it start to become, not only less important, but partly a reason to want to do it…if it’s uncomfortable to speak up now, what’s it going to be like when my kids come along?”
During his time on the campaign trail, Leacock has learned and experienced valuable lessons, which he will carry on after Election Day. He has created “an organization out of absolutely nothing,” supported by members of his community. He also learned that this campaign did something else; it pushed him out of his comfort zone: “When I was running, I probably hadn’t given a speech in front of people since I was in this building,” Leacock said.
“But there is nothing bad about this,” he continued, “And I think that all of us live in a little bit of a, you know, in a reality that’s boxed in by our fear. I’d recommend anybody to always push limits, and experiment and try different things…push against those things and try things that scare you, because you’re going to learn a lot about how illusory those fears are.”
