Girls State is a mock government program that takes place over the summer. The duration is one week and takes place at Northwestern State University.
- It encourages Public Speaking and helps you grow in that way.
At Girls State, you are required to give speeches to run for office (you can present to a huge audience or a small one depending on what you run for). The first day you go, that night, you are voted into your job position that you will be in for the rest of the week. I was voted a Supreme Court justice, so my job was to hear cases and make a prison outline system with my other justices. Your job throughout the week will depend on what you are voted in as, and you can move up in that position throughout the week. I was voted as Chief Justice on the Supreme Court later in the week. They have different jobs, such as being a lawyer, sheriff, press, and etc. Also, they had different branches, such as legislative and judicial. As chief justice, my other justices and I were head of the judicial branch. We had an actual mock trial going on all day. If the courts are not your thing, there are so many jobs. One that I thought was cool was Poppy Press, as they actually did interviews and posted them online. Our mayor made a website and much, much more. The whole camp is run as a state.
- You meet girls from all over the state from different backgrounds.
Ascension, at times, can be a bubble. I know every single person at the school. At Girls State, there is no way you know everyone. I met so many girls from different backgrounds that I still talk to today. I even had lunch with one recently. My experience of Girls State was that everyone was super nice and eager to make friends. But then again, I had the best parish ( GO AMITE)—the girls were so welcoming and funny.
- You have fun activities at Girls State that make you go out of your comfort zone.
At Girls State, you perform dances, cheers, and talent shows in front of the entire camp. I dislike dancing with a passion, but nonetheless, there I was, doing an entire dance routine in front of the entire camp. I also dislike singing, and I am not good at it, yet here I was, singing horribly in front of 300 girls. Despite not liking or being good at those things, I had the most fun ever and did them anyway.
- You also start to understand the voting process better.
At Girls State, the camp of roughly 300-400 girls is split into two parties, the Nationalist Party and the Federalist Party (Nationalists are the best, in my opinion). You get assigned to a parish, and then that parish is split into two towns (I was in Assumption City). Our sister city was Ascension City, Assumption City was Nationalist, and Ascension City was Federalist, but we all still worked together because we were in the same parish. Not only do you practice political parties, but you also do wheeling and dealing at Girls State, which is equivalent to lobbying. You may not win because you gave the best speech or are the best candidate. You have officers assigned to your parish. Their sole job is to wheel and deal and get the most candidates elected. So let me give you an example. Assumption City wants their representative for Governor to win, so they go to another city and say if you give me 20 votes for Governor, I will provide you with 20 votes for Lieutenant Governor. The officers can agree or disagree with that deal and how their city will vote. Now, you, as an individual, can vote however you want but are encouraged to vote with your city. So you could have the best candidate in the world, and they could still not win. I saw a girl give the best speech I have ever seen, and she lost because of a wheel and deal from another city. I am not trying to deter you from running for a State position. I ran for Secretary of State, and I lost. I still had a blast presenting my speech. I also became friends with the girl who beat me for that position. It is a girls-support-girls environment. At the end of the day, it’s a fake election. They even let you register to vote at Girls State as long as you are 17 years old at the time. The counselors walk you through the entire process.
- Lastly, it looks great for college applications as it is recognized across 50 states.
