Within the walls of a crowded high school cafeteria, the conversation among students these days may center on sports or music or who will be the last survivor left on a television island. Times certainly have changed over the last 30 years. For three decades ago, above the clamor of lunch trays and early afternoon banter, an ambitious teenager sat with his friends as they discussed how they could change the world.

Now, nearly 30 years later, that same teenager returned to that same high school cafeteria as a well respected and accomplished lawmaker and public servant. That same teen, New York State Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, last week, addressed Mineola's finest students, speaking about a time when Mineola High School served as a political springboard to a career that's next stop could be the position of Nassau County Executive.

"It's really great to be back here at Mineola High School in the cafeteria where a lot of my conspiring of my political endeavors occurred," DiNapoli joked as he spoke in front of students, parents and faculty members.

As DiNapoli gets set for a September primary against Glen Cove Mayor Tom Suozzi for the Democratic nomination for Nassau County Executive, he reminisced about his start in politics. As DiNapoli spoke of the days in the late 1960's when he was a student at Mineola High School, he reflected on a time when the country was going through a metamorphosis of sorts. It just may have been the political unrest and social changes, staples of the time period, that had spurred students on to take action.

It was 1968 when DiNapoli entered Mineola High School and the country's focus those days was much different than it is today. The Vietnam War was at its height, seemingly tearing the country apart as teen soldiers were sent away to fight a war miles from home. Dr. Martin Luther King had been assassinated as had Robert Kennedy. "There was a tremendous tumult and division and a concern of American society and here I was, this kid who grew up in Albertson and went to Meadow Drive School. Like so many of my fellow students, we were living in good homes in good neighborhoods. But the world was very unsettling to us and really created a lot of challenges to promote what we thought America should be about," DiNapoli recalled. "It was really that kind of an environment in the high school."

In a busy cafeteria, the high school freshman and his buddies sat down to talk about the issues that were going on. DiNapoli decided to get involved in the student's General Organization, which is now called the Student Organization. "There was a lot of pressure for young people to be more involved because back then, when you were a young person you could be drafted and, at that time, would be serving overseas very likely and serving in Vietnam," he said.

A concern among students at the time was that they could get drafted to fight in a war, yet they couldn't vote. "Some of us formed a political party to run in the General Organization election," said DiNapoli. The newly formed political caucus, the Student Union Party, would capture all four seats in a surprising upset in the General Organization election. The General Organization was transformed in the Student Organization, which is a sort of student-run government that still exists in Mineola High School.

The Student Organization (SO), DiNapoli recalls, was concerned with such as issues as making sure students could express their individualism through the way they dressed as well making plans for pep rallies. However, SO officers also discussed issues such as whether Mineola High School should take a stand against the bombing of Cambodia. "We took it very seriously. Part of what kept my interest in the larger issues going on in society was the support and the encouragement and nurturing of not only my parents, but so many of the teachers who really challenged me," DiNapoli said.

\DiNapoli and his fellow SO officers got involved in more serious issues such as supporting the Southern Christian Leadership Council and the United Farm Workers. However, one issue really hit home when a fellow student from Herricks who was a couple of years older than DiNapoli was drafted in Vietnam only to come home in a coffin. "When someone we knew who was hanging out with us in the school yard [was killed], it put a face and it put a family on what was challenging American society at that time," he said.

The legal voting age was eventually changed to 18 but with privilege came responsibility, a responsibility to get involved. As a senior student, getting involved meant becoming a part of the educational process at Mineola High School. DiNapoli recalls that he and his friends decided to try to enact some changes on the Mineola Board of Education. Rather than lend their support to a candidate, one of their own would run for the school board. Since DiNapoli was going to school locally at Hofstra, it was decided that he would make an improbable run for the school board and challenge incumbent trustee Bernard Zinober.

At the time, DiNapoli and his supporters didn't feel many would vote for an 18-year-old student for the board of education. They simply wanted to "wake people up a little bit." A student-run campaign was launched. In the May 2, 1972 issue of the Mineola American, the paper reported, "In debate, DiNapoli has proved himself a sharp and incisive thinker. He has not hesitated to criticize. Before the Civics, he termed the Mineola High School guidance department 'inept' and the health course devoted to sex education a 'farce.'"

When election day came, the improbable became possible. DiNapoli defeated Zinobar by a 712 to 571 margin. It was speculated at the time that since the attorney general ruled that 18-year-olds could not hold public office, many of Zinobar's supporters stayed home instead of voting. However, the decision was later reversed and Mineola had the state's youngest public official.

DiNapoli called the campaign an incredible experience. "When the votes came in there was a great shock not only in Mineola, but across Long Island and across New York State," he added.

DiNapoli would go on to serve 10 years on the Mineola Board of Education, including two terms as its president. As far as the state assemblyman is concerned, though, the 1972 school board election will be remembered as one in which the students' voices were heard, a sign that young people, educated and nurtured to believe they could make a difference, could be given an opportunity to enact positive change.

Now, as DiNapoli embarks on yet another political journey and yet another campaign, he can't help but be reminded of the very first time he won an election. "It's a lesson I'll never forget," he said. "Every time I run for office, I always remember the Mineola community that was willing to take a leap of faith."