Like a lot of college freshmen, Mary Topper arrived at the University of Pittsburgh and intended to get her degree and get out.

And not just get out to, say, Washington, D.C., or New York City. She began college with a dual major of political science and Russian, hoping to get involved in international politics.

She didn't have an interest in local politics until one day in 2006, when she spoke to a political science class, encouraging them to join Pi Sigma Alpha, a political honor society. Later, a field organizer from Gov. Ed Rendell's campaign, who was also recruiting poli sci majors that day, approached her and suggested she work on the campaign to re-elect Gov. Ed Rendell.

She accepted -- and she hasn't left local Democratic politics since.

Ms. Topper, 21, graduated college a year early and is now the executive director of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, where she has worked in varying capacities since her sophomore year of college. She said that campaigning for Democratic candidates in different Pittsburgh neighborhoods gave her an appreciation for the city a lot of college students would miss by holing up in Oakland for four years.

"If I hadn't had a reason to, I wouldn't have ventured farther than Oakland, the South Side or the Waterfront," she said.

A native of the Philadelphia suburbs in Montgomery County, she wasn't fixed on Pittsburgh for college, noting that Pitt was the westernmost school she applied to. Once she toured the campus and the city, she was hooked. And once she got into politics, she realized Pittsburgh was a good place to stay and build a career.

"I think in a lot of ways because Pittsburgh is ... a smaller city, it's easier to build a network of people," the Shadyside resident said. "A lot of [young] people who do stay here establish themselves here."

Networking and establishing a career in Pittsburgh politics was a particularly appealing career path for Ms. Topper.

"I feel like there are a lot of venues for people to get involved. ... The mayor is so incredibly young" and City Council staffers are young, she said.

"From my political standpoint, it's the best city to be in [because] it's so hugely Democratic."

She's currently working on the campaigns to elect the candidates the Allegheny County Democratic Committee recently endorsed. She said that she wants to get out and explore Pittsburgh's neighborhoods, but her free time is dictated by the election cycle.

"Depending on the time of year, work can consume all of my time," she said.

At 21, Ms. Topper's not sure where she'll be in the future, but she certainly doesn't discount Pittsburgh for continuing in politics or school, noting that Pittsburgh is hard to beat in terms of educational opportunities before ticking off a half dozen programs at Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University she'd be interested in.

"I can't think of any other field I would've gotten so much experience in such a short period of time," she said.

But ultimately?

"It depends on how things shape up. I've been working here for two years and it's been great," she said. "In two years? I don't know where I'll be."

Based on the sound of things, though, Pittsburgh wouldn't be a bad place for this 21-year-old.