Final Draft

A Lesson in Confidence

My junior year in high school I was accepted into a program called Evergreen Girl’s State. Girl’s and Boy’s State is a mock government program put on by the American Legion in each state. Every year students are selected from schools throughout the state to participate in this program. Application processes are different at every school, but I was nominated by a teacher at mine to apply. I had never heard of the program before and to me it was just another added stress; little did I know the impact it would have on me and how grateful I would be that I got to experience it.

                Stress is a common side effect of being a student. AP classes, finals, SATs, college applications; not to mention extra circulars. I was feeling the pressure when another opportunity to add to my already full schedule presented itself. During class I received a note stating that I, along with about thirty other students from my school, had been nominated to apply for the Evergreen Girl’s and Boy’s State program. I had no idea what this program was, but apparently it was kind of a big deal and I began hearing a lot of positive feedback from students who had gone.  I was pretty excited until I realized that applying also included an essay and an interview. The essay was easy enough. We wrote about why we thought we would do well at Girl’s or Boy’s State and why we wanted to go; a standard cliché application prompt. The interview was an entirely different challenge. A committee from the American Legion and a few students who had attended the program in previous years would be asking us questions on our ambition, patriotism, and knowledge of current events. I remember the feeling of anxiety upon arriving at the American Legion office for my interview. I felt like I was going to pass out. It went better than I expected, but not by much. Some questions were meant to trick the interviewee and others were just plain difficult to answer. I will not go into detail about some of the absolutely ridiculous answers I gave, but there was one question that seemed particularly deceptive. They asked which three from all the girls that had applied from my school, would be best choice to send. I picked three girls that I knew would do well, which prompted them to ask, “So you wouldn’t chose yourself?” I answered this in series of jumbled words followed by them all having a good a laugh; apparently this happened to everyone asked this question. However, along with the more difficult questions, they asked some basic “tell me about yourself” ones. They asked if I read for pleasure and if so what I liked to read. I mentioned John Green, a young adult author, which brought a smile to one of the committee member’s faces. He jokingly said, “Well that’s it, you’re in!” This made me feel a lot more comfortable and I was able to continue the interview. I walked out feeling shaken, but not completely without hope. The next few months I tried not to think about it as I waited for the results to come in.

                I figured the chances of me getting in were pretty slim, which is why I was rather shocked when I found out that actually did. I was excited, but also a little hesitant because I did not know what to expect from the program. About a week before leaving for the program, my anxiety heightened. I did not feel prepared whatsoever, nor had I gone over the reading material they had mailed to me. The night before, and morning of, I was frantically packing and trying to mentally prepare myself for the endeavor. I was in a state of dread, at that point I just wanted to stay home and avoid going altogether. Exhausted and anxious, I finally found my way onto the bus headed for Central Washington. On the bus ride there, things turned around. We heard there would be talent auditions, so my friend and I came up with an arrangement of “This Land is Your Land” with simple harmonies. We also met some new people on the bus and I found myself in a state of positivity.

                Once we arrived, we found our assigned dorms, discovered what fictitious political party we would be in and the “city” we would identify with. We met our junior counselor, who would be guiding us throughout the week, and met our roommate. I got along with my roommate just fine and we ended up having the nicest dorm as well. My fear and anxiety had been replaced with excitement and I was looking forward to the week. The first couple days were stressful. Each city was given a problem that we would find a solution for by the end of the week, we determined our party platform and we also held mock elections at the city, county, and state level. I had not planned on running for any major position, but then I saw the position of State Superintendent of Public Instruction listed. I had been feeling frustrated with my own local education officials and I felt like this would be a position I could be passionate about. I decided to run for it, figuring I had nothing to lose. In the primary elections, those who wished to run for a certain position would go up and give a speech in front of their party and the members of that party would elect one to move on to the general elections. I made a last minute decision to go up and make a speech and frankly I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. When I got up there I simply started talking about why I was passionate about this position and what I thought needed to change. People responded to it. To my surprise, I ended up moving on to the general elections. There I would have to give another speech in front the entire Girl’s State population. I was a little bit more prepared for this one, but even so I did not go by the script I wrote. I did the same thing I had done the first time; I got up there and just started talking. With the nervousness I felt beforehand, I was surprised by how comfortable I felt up there. Words and ideas that I did not even know I could conjure were pouring out of my mouth. I felt more confident than I ever had in my life. The next day we discovered the results during an assembly and they called up the people who had been elected for state offices. I nearly jumped out of my seat when they called my name. I could not believe it; I felt like I had accomplished something I could be proud of. I do not know how I managed to get up the courage to make that first speech, but I was so glad that I did. I felt confident, empowered, shocked and most of all relieved that the stressful part was over.

                The next few days were less pressure, but still educational. I was part of a group of eight in the governor’s cabinet. In our meetings, we judged city models made to show the solution to their problems and looked over bills that had made it through the house and senate. We discussed whether or not they should be vetoed, passed, or sent back for clarification. This provided a lot of insight into all the specifics of bills written in the real world. I learned that sometimes a bill may be a generally good idea, but if it is poorly written or is not clear enough it cannot be put into effect. To be able to discuss issues, some serious and some not, with this group of intelligent women was one of the most fun parts of this experience. I do wish we could have had a more active role and more time to look over the bills, since many did not make it to us due to lack of time. In spite of this, we all still enjoyed the time spent in cabinet meetings.

 One of the best parts about this experience was meeting so many intelligent and inspiring people. I was surprised at how smoothly we were able to run this mock government. There was argument of course, but most of it was well reasoned and we were able to come to a compromise most of the time. In fact, the approximately 200 teenage girls that attended were able to unanimously agree on a bill to send to Girl’s Nation. I found the fact that we were able to easily accomplish something like this and make a definite decision encouraging. Another encouraging thought was that even though we had our set parties and different platforms, once we got our positions and started working, none of that really mattered. We were there to speak up for what we believed in and what we thought would be best for the population of this fictional state.

                Girl’s State was not all serious, however. In fact, it was far from it much of the time. We did all sorts of silly chants and songs at assemblies. Each city preformed a couple parody songs, we chose to an arrangement of Taylor Swift’s “Trouble” featuring goats bleating. These were a lot of fun and it also gave us time to get to know the people in our cities. I found myself talking with people I did not know well easily, something I had not excelled at in the past. By the end of the week our city was really close and I am grateful to have spent a week with such awesome people. We also had different talent acts preform at the assemblies. My friend and I preformed, “This Land is Your Land” on the last day. Although preforming musically was something I was more used to, it was still nerve-racking. It ended up going well and we had a lot of fun doing it. This was another boost of confidence in an already empowering week. I felt like I had accomplished so much and had a blast in the process. The experience was an odd mixture of summer camp and a serious mock government program. It was a little strange at times, but it made things entertaining and kept us on our toes.

                Upon returning from Girl’s State, I realized how much I gained from the experience. Because of it I am much more confident, I am able to make connections with people, and express myself more eloquently than I had been able to before. Not only did I gain a fair amount of knowledge about our government, I also learned quite a bit about myself. It was the first time I felt as though I had really accomplished something, I was proud of myself. Although the experience was stressful and exhausting at times, it was well worth it. I learned what I was capable of and applied it to my daily life. I still carry a lot of the confidence I gained from this experience. The trepidation I felt upon leaving had transformed into exuberance when I returned home. I could not be more grateful to have had this amazing opportunity.