For Joe Bjorkman L’28, public service isn’t an abstract calling, it’s a family inheritance that he’s incredibly proud to add to. Both of his parents built careers in the Air Force as meteorologists, and Bjorkman has chosen to serve in a different way.
“I will always take the time to talk about Boys State and Boy Nation,” said Bjorkman. “There’s no great way to explain how the program makes you feel. You have to participate to understand, but it is one of the most pivotal experiences of my life. It has shaped who I am today.”
Bjorkman’s connection to the program runs four generations deep. His great-grandfather, a World War II veteran, served on staff in the 1950s and later commanded his American Legion post. His grandfather attended in 1962 as a member of the Sons of the American Legion. His father attended in 1983. His older sister attended Girls State in 2016, Bjorkman attended in 2019, and his younger sister in 2023.
“It’s a nice through line of our family serving four generations,” said Bjorkman, “and hopefully many more.”
Founded in 1936, Boys State was built for rising high school seniors through a weeklong simulation of government. Delegates campaign for office, get elected, and then govern. Ohio’s program launched in 1937, the third in the nation, and, at its peak, 1,400 attendees a year.
For Bjorkman, the program's real value isn't the mock elections or the résumé line. It's what happens when teenagers from wildly different backgrounds are placed side by side for a week.
"The best thing about this program is you put together 17-year-olds from across the state, or across the country, who are still young enough to be molded in their way of thinking," said Bjorkman. "They get to understand, ‘I might not agree with you, but I can see where you're coming from, and we can see each other as people.’”
It's a mission he carries with him into law school, one rooted in a belief he returns to often: that public service, whether in a courtroom or a mock Senate chamber, is about lifting up the next generation.
“I wanted to go into politics and give back in a different way, serve in a different capacity,” said Bjorkman.
His academic goals took him first to Michigan State, then to The Ohio State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Along the way, an internship in Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office reshaped how he thought about his future. Working in constituent services at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and a kidnapping plot, Bjorkman was fielding roughly 100 calls a day, many from constituents caught in an eight-month unemployment backlog.
“A lot of people were truly struggling,” said Bjorkman. “At the same time, I was reading ‘Just Mercy’ by Bryan Stevenson. ‘Just Mercy’ is about the death penalty and Bryan Stevenson's own legal work. It was just very eye opening for me.”
“I was working in government, and there was only so much I could do to help people. I was reading about the actualized work and seeing how much lawyers can help people, whether it is an entire systematic change or on an individual level.”
For Bjorkman, the contrast he witnessed stuck and the realization of how he could be of public service in politics helped point him toward Capital University Law School.
His summer working at the Franklin County Prosecutors Office gave him a close look at the justice system, and a prison book club he joined during his first year at Capital added another layer of understanding as he heard from people who had served 20-plus years.
He's also seen the other side of the ledger, the relief victims feel, especially in violent crime cases. For now, prosecution is the direction that interests him most, though he's keeping his options open.
"I'm always a public service person," said Bjorkman. "So, what that actually looks like, and whether that turns into more systematic work, we'll see. But I'm always going to keep my eyes open."