Connecticut State Senator Toni Boucher of Wilton delivered a guest lecture to international relations students at Naugatuck Valley Community College’s Danbury Campus on November 30. Sen. Boucher, who has served in the legislature for nearly two decades—first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate—was invited to speak to the course by Political Science Instructor Frances Pulle.

The lecture covered an array of topics including national security, higher education, transportation, the migrant crisis in Europe, criminal justice and the financing of political campaigns.

Sen. Boucher, who emigrated from Italy to the United States at the age of five, grew up in Naugatuck and always had an interest in politics. She developed her public-speaking and debating skills at an early age after an English teacher forced her to join an all-boys debate team, but she put any dreams of entering politics on hold to start a career and a family.

But, after working as a middle- and high-school language teacher, founding her own small business and being part of management teams for two Fortune 50 companies, she was recruited to run for a seat on the Wilton Board of Education.

“And before I knew it, I was running for office,” said Sen. Boucher. “I had to have a campaign committee; I had to have somebody help me put together a flyer or a handout; I had to go door-to-door; and I had to go on trains and ask people to vote for me—and my five-year-old daughter; she carried balloons. She still remembers it to this day, now that she’s an adult.” Boucher won that election and soon found herself elected chairperson of the school board.

Later, Sen. Boucher won a seat on the Wilton Board of Selectmen and was appointed to the State Board of Education. It was a late-night phone call from a fellow politico in 1996 that persuaded her to run for the House of Representatives. A dozen years later, Boucher successfully ran for state Senate, where she’s currently Assistant Minority Leader, a ranking member on the Education and Transportation committees and sits on the Judiciary and Finance, Revenue and Bonding committees.

What’s Sen. Boucher’s advice to those eyeing a run for office? “You just work harder, you do a better job and you get the votes.”