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.
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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.”