COLUMBIA — When Philisea Matthews changed her major at the University of South Carolina Aiken from nursing to political science, she envisioned a future career as a teacher.

Then, at a college Democrats convention last April, she met Jalisa Washington-Price, the South Carolina state director for U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.

Within a few months, Matthews was hired as a South Carolina field organizer for Harris and tasked with building support for the California senator in rural, western parts of the state — Saluda, Edgefield, Greenwood and McCormick counties.

Though Harris' bid for the Democratic nomination ultimately fell through, the experience completely redirected Matthews' career trajectory.

"Even though I studied (politics) in college, I didn't think I was actually going to do it," said Matthews, 23. "But I definitely see myself in it for the long haul now, and I hope in the next few elections I can work on some more competitive races."

While presidential campaigns have now packed up their South Carolina offices following the Feb. 29 primary and moved on to other parts of the country, the work their teams did left behind a lasting footprint in the Palmetto State, as they do every four years.

For both political parties in South Carolina, one of the most enduring benefits of holding the "First in the South" presidential primaries is that each cycle produces a fresh crop of young operatives and gives them a hands-on crash course in what it takes to manage successful campaigns.

Few states receive as much attention and resources in the presidential primary process as South Carolina, creating opportunities for local aspiring politicos they can't get elsewhere.

Some of those young operatives remain in political work decades after their first presidential campaign job.

Walter Whetsell, one of South Carolina's most experienced GOP consultants, worked his first presidential race on Phil Gramm's 1996 campaign in South Carolina and went on to help with the campaigns of Dan Quayle and George W. Bush in 2000, Fred Thompson in 2008 and Rick Perry in 2012 and 2016.

Though Whetsell had already been working in politics at a lower level before joining Gramm's campaign, he said the presidential runs provided more experience in handling the glare of the spotlight and the pressure cooker of a national contest.

"There is no better training on the intensity-ometer than a presidential race," Whetsell said.

That phenomenon proved particularly prevalent for Democrats this election cycle, as the crowded field of candidates created far more job openings in South Carolina than a typical primary. With many candidates emphasizing diversity in their staffs, the cycle also elevated more African Americans and women to campaign roles.

No candidate hired more South Carolinians than Tom Steyer, the California businessman who invested millions of dollars on advertising and organizing in the state en route to a third-place finish here.

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Jonathan Metcalfe, who was Steyer's S.C. state director, worked his first presidential race as a college senior on Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1988 campaign and said the long-term impact on the state was on his mind when he hired dozens of South Carolinians to organize for Steyer in their own communities.

While Metcalfe said some of those staffers will continue to build a career in campaigns, others may go on to run for office themselves or work in other service-oriented fields like advocacy groups or nonprofits.

"I've always felt like I owe it to the next generation to pave the way for them," Metcalfe said. "It's all a building process, so we made sure that we hired people from those communities who are more likely to stay there and make those communities better."

The transition from presidential campaigns to lower-level races does not always go smoothly.

S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson cautioned that young staffers will need to be prepared for the likelihood that candidates in down-ballot contests will not be able to afford to pay them as much as they received on presidential campaigns.

In 2010, for example, Robertson said several operatives who had entered political work during the 2008 presidential campaign ended up leaving the state or the industry altogether when they realized they would need to take a pay cut to continue receiving work.

Salaries on some presidential campaigns this cycle were especially high due to heavy competition for political talent between the many candidates in the race.

"That's going to be the most difficult part for these folks," Robertson said. "But there's no question this is an exciting time because we've got a new group of young people who are coming up and will now have the experience to help our candidates across the state."

William Fairfax, a Claflin University student, joined former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign as a political intern and also served as a co-chair of the national HBCU Students for Biden group. Money and the prestige of national politics were not the reasons he came out of this race wanting to work in politics full-time, he said.

"If you're in it for the attention and the salary, you're in it for the wrong reasons," Fairfax said. "This work should be about changing people's lives for the better, and your local elections are the ones that matter most, so you have to be willing to get your feet dirty in that, too."

The S.C. Democratic Party had already been investing more into preparing young Democrats to work on campaigns or run for office themselves in recent years with their James E. Clyburn Political Fellowship, a training program started in 2016 while Jaime Harrison was party chairman.

Now, Harrison is running for office himself against U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. — and his burgeoning campaign, like many others in South Carolina, is hiring.