NC teacher speaks on crushing student debt at DNC
PHILADELPHIA (WTVD) -- On Thursday afternoon, Dave Wils, a Greensboro social studies teacher, was in the most obvious of Philadelphia locales: In line for a tour of Independence Hall.
But a few hours later, Wils would address thousands inside the Wells Fargo Center -- and millions more at home.
WATCH: Full speech of Guilford County teacher David Wils at the DNC.
Asked if he was nervous, Wils said: "It's a good mix of anxiety and also excitement."
Wils was already poised to be a North Carolina delegate this week, but after a conversation with a party leader two weeks ago, Wils was put on the speaker's schedule. The topic: crushing student debt.
RELATED: CLINTON ACCEPTS HISTORIC NOMINATION
"A lot of people work hard, they go to school, do the right things, graduate get a job, they work hard," Wils said.
And while he said he loves teaching eighth-grade social studies at Guilford County Schools, he describes the lead weight of trying to pay off $35,000 in student loans.
"And so a lot of us are struggling to get ahead because of the debt we accumulated," Wils said.
Those struggles are one of the main planks of the convention's platform - "debt-free college."
RELATED: THESE NC RESIDENTS HELPED WRITE THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM
Free tuition at in-state colleges or universities for families making less than $125,000 a year. It was a hard-fought compromise between Hillary Clinton's and Bernie Sanders' campaigns.
"It's just a beautiful picture of democracy these two campaigns who had a real contest of ideas came together and negotiated their differences," Wils said.
WATCH: MEREDITH STUDENTS 'INSPIRED' AT POLITICAL CONVENTIONS
