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Girls State inspires student leaders |
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July 1, 2015 |
by McKenzie MacDonald
Three young women from Boundary County recently
helped organize and operate the government of
Idaho Girls State.
Idaho Syringa Girls State is an annual
leadership event sponsored by the American
Legion Auxiliary. Held just a couple of weeks
ago in mid June, this experience brings together
junior (going to be senior) girls from all over
the state of Idaho and gives them the
opportunity to see firsthand how our state
government works. These young women spend a week
on the campus of Northwest Nazarene University
in Nampa, Idaho and work long hours in an effort
to build their own government. They have the
opportunity to run for various city, county and
state offices, tour Idaho’s capitol, visit the
Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, and debate their
own bills in the capitol’s House and Senate
chambers.
(Story continues below this photo).
This year, three girls from Bonners Ferry had
the opportunity to travel to Nampa and attend
Girls State: Alaina Rushing, Veronica MacDonald,
and Lauren Wages. Each of these girls very
willingly and excitedly talked about their
experiences at Girls State; the challenges they
faced, the friends they made, and the confidence
they gained.
 All
three of the girls became initially interested
in Girls State for different reasons. Lauren was
excited about the leadership aspect of the week
as she has always been interested in government,
while Alaina’s interest was largely sparked by
listening to her father share his experiences
from his week at Boys State when he was in high
school.
When asked about their favorite part of the
experience, however, their answers were very
similar. “My favorite part about Girls State,”
said Alaina, “was getting to know and bonding
with girls from across Idaho.” Veronica and
Lauren agreed. According to Lauren, over 200
girls attended, and she enjoyed seeing the
diversity and realizing more of what Idaho has
to offer. When asked whether she was hoping to
stay in contact with her friends, Veronica said,
“we created a Facebook page so we could all stay
connected.”
While Girls State is a week filled with fun and
excitement, it is not, by any means, an easy
week. Lauren said that the hardest part of her
week was the lack of sleep, and Veronica agreed.
According to Lauren, the girls were awake and
working from 6:00 in the morning to 11:00 at
night, and that does not count the hours after
11:00 p.m. they spent laughing and talking with
their roommates. Veronica said she functioned on
about four hours of sleep per night.
So, with all of that fun and late-night
giggling, what did these girls actually learn?
“From Girls State,” said Alaina, “I learned that
confidence is the key to success and sometimes
you have to put yourself out there, and stand up
for what you believe in.” She believes this new
confidence will help her later in life as she
meets new people, applies for a job, or is faced
with a difficult decision. Lauren said that,
aside from learning everything about government,
she enjoyed learning to always be accepting of
other people and their opinions “because you
never know what their story is.” For Veronica,
learning the importance of doing thorough
research on candidates running for election was
the most interesting. "When I go to vote in a
year, I will have the skills to make informed
decisions on electing a person.”
Although each of these three young women had
slightly different experiences during their week
spent at Girls State, they each had one thing in
common – they would absolutely recommend Girls
State to other girls. “It is a great opportunity
to get out and meet new people, learn about your
government and gain a new respect for what
people are doing,” said Veronica. Lauren said
that Girls State was a great learning experience
and overall life experience. She recommends
participation 100%. “I highly recommend Girls
State,” said Alaina. “To me, it was life
changing and I will never forget the memories I
made with my new friends. Girls State has
inspired me to live without the fear of failing,
and to be the best I can be.”
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