When Tremaine McKnight heard that Social Development Director Alicia Grangent was taking students to the Illinois State Fair, he decided to make the trip.

After all, he’d never been to Springfield, Ill., the capital of the state, or to the fair.

“I wanted to go because I knew the fair would have a lot of information about Illinois, the state that I live in,” said Tremaine, who is from Chicago. “A lot of young men my age don’t know anything about their state at all.”

But he never expected to have a chance to learn firsthand from a real history maker: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. Tremaine and some of the other students from the Joliet Job Corps Center met the governor at the fair on Aug. 13.

When they arrived at the fairgrounds, the group did some sightseeing and people watching while checking out all the carnival food. “I loved seeing the rides and games,” Tremaine said.

Tremaine and students Quentin Sanders and Dwayne Wade Jr. were walking through the midway when they saw someone who looked familiar.

(L to R) Joliet Job Corps Center student Jabez Brown and Gov. Bruce Rauner at the state fair.

“Dwayne said, ‘That’s the governor,’” Tremaine remembered. “Something sparked in me, and I had to introduce myself and shake his hand.”

They waited until the governor was free, and then they stepped up and introduced themselves. Tremaine told the governor about his life, explaining that he was a licensed barber who had decided to enroll at the Center to study Building Construction Technology.

“He said, ‘Keep going on the path you are going on and maintain a professional image. And things will always work out for you,’” Tremaine said.