Taking in more than his 15 minutes of fame

Jeremy Epstein has had little time to himself since Oct. 16 when he asked, “Mr. President, Gov. Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate I will have little chance to get employment. What can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I graduate?”

The 20-year-old North Woodmere resident and Lawrence Woodmere Academy (LWA) class of 2010 graduate asked the first question at the second presidential debate at Hofstra University. “I think I did a good job,” Epstein said. “I asked a question and it increased my opportunity to talk about the issues that plague everyone’s mind.”

After receiving a call from Gallup Presidential Poll inquiring if he’d like to ask a question at the debate, he then submitted four questions and was screened by the Secret Service. Gallup also sent Epstein a packet of information that included instructions on where to meet and what to wear.

On debate day, Epstein was the first one to ask his question during the daytime rehearsal so he had an inkling that he would be the one to kick-off the question segment. After rehearsal, he and the rest of the debate attendees had almost three hours of downtime. Epstein used it to mentally prepare himself. “I had to prepare myself to ask the first question in front of 65 million people,” he said.

Jeff Weiss, the athletic director at LWA, was Epstein’s varsity basketball coach and has known the family for at least 15 years. He had no idea Epstein was going to be attending the debates, yet alone asking the first question. “When I saw him I thought it was unbelievable; my kids went crazy when they saw him on the screen,” Weiss said. “I thought he was very well spoken and did very well. He handled himself very well and represented himself and our school in a very positive way.”