What makes a qualified representative?

There are several pre-requisites for being a member of the house of representatives(source).

The individual must have been a citizen of the United States for the past seven years. They must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they represent.

And lastly, (firstly in the constitution, lastly in my order), minimum age: 25.
This is the way the law is written and thus should be applied (in other words I'm not advocating changing it or anything). However, I think we should at least take a look at the spirit of the law for our own knowledge sake. First, the US Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. Average life expectancy was actually tiny then compared to today's standards. The CDC doesn't have data for average life expectancy prior to 1900, so let's make the faulty assumption that life expectancy raised not one bit in the 112 years between the ratifying of the constituion and the CDC's first data. ...in 1900 the average life expectancy was 47.3 years of age from birth(source). ...again we're making a faulty assumption, and it may have been lower. But my point is this ...in 1788, 25 was over the hill ...or at the very least considered very mature ...times have changed and a 25 year old sometimes isn't even out of college yet ...or maybe held a job for a year or two ... also, keep in mind, the 25 year requirement was the lowest they put in the document.

...this is not an age discrimination piece, my point is as follows:

The framers wisely knew that we needed experienced individuals making the decisions for this country ...people who have lived their life as a citizen and in their wiser years use that wisdom as a service to their country. I think it's no coincidence that those great early years of our country knew no lifelong politicians ...they knew citizens who knew life as a citizen and who then went on and served their country.

Let me sum up the last paragraph just a bit more succinctly. Be skeptical of the person who seeks being a politician as their career. Look for someone who seeks their office to serve their country after being an average citizen (like YOU and ME) for their entire career. These people, naturally, will represent us better.

And once again, Sheldon Schafer, comes out shining from this point of view:
First, Sheldon is no spring chicken (sorry Sheldon). But this is a GOOD thing. We don't want naivete, we want wisdom (the type that comes from being around on this planet for awhile).

He has spent 35 years as an educator ...he has taught over half a million students in that time. He spent a couple years in the US Peace Corps. He has gone to Haiti for mission work ...the conditions in Haiti, btw, are horrible, thus his trip, he felt a need to serve his fellow humans who hadn't been as lucky as him. And a number of community volunteer tasks that I know exist, but lack the details for at the time of this writing.

This is the description of a man who, dare I say it, ENJOYS serving his country and the people (read: YOU and ME) that he represents.

And one last point before I let you go. There is an implicit requirement of all elected officials for this country. That requirement is the requirement of being INCORRUPTIBLE. Lifelong politicians are not known for this trait. Someone who is making their living from being a politician is going to be more open to this by the very nature of the need to feed themselves. Those who would seek to corrupt (whether those would be individuals or faceless properties of a system) will have a hard time doing so to a man who has already made his living.

...for crying out loud, Sheldon Schafer is essentially, instead of retiring after a lifetime of service, going on to want to serve MORE ...think about it ...this ought to make his intentions clear to us ...he wants to SERVE this COUNTRY and YOU and ME.