Over Veteran’s Day Weekend I went to Maine Youth in Government, which is also known as Model State. I spent the weekend in Augusta with different high school students from all over the state. We worked in the state house, passing or killing bills written by the very students attending the program. The majority of students who attend model state are the type of kids who are invested in the political scene, and are either very knowledgeable about the political world or want to be. Knowing this, I was worried that the weekend would be difficult to get through because of the backlash of the results of the presidential election that had come out a few days prior. I figured I was heading into a political storm, where heated fights about the candidates would be constant, and the question ‘who did you support in the election?’ would be as common as ‘what is your name?’. I was in for a complete surprise when the opposite occurred.

There was a vast feeling of unity, regardless of where people stood on the political spectrum. Many of the speeches given by students and adults throughout the weekend detailed how important it is that we come together despite our differences, not just politically but on all fronts. Considering the amount of intolerance from both sides of the political spectrum in the days prior, I was happily shocked. While there were certainly students who were upset or thrilled at the outcome of the election, they respected one another’s views. I didn’t even hear half as much talk about the presidential election as I thought I would. When I did, it was mostly well-informed, respectful discussion. Besides, us students were there with a purpose. We needed to get almost 100 bills through the House, Senate, and Governor before the weekend was over. In order to do that, we needed to work as a team. As a senior at KHS and President of the Senate at Model State, Mallory Burchill put it best when she said, ¨I think that we put all political opinions aside to just focus on what we were doing at Model State which was working on Maine legislature.¨

This common goal allowed for a fast paced weekend full of interesting debate. Kids came from all walks of life, which added diversity to the ideas and discussions. There were exchange students who attended, and kids from all different areas of the state. One girl from northern Maine told me how there were more cows than people in her town! There were students of all different levels of experience, with some having participated in various youth government opportunities, and others being first-timers. No matter where you fell on that spectrum, you had equal opportunity to share your voice and contribute. KHS Junior, Jack Mason, attended Model State for the first time this year and discussed how much he learned, ¨It (Model State) helps kids understand politics, like the way a senate really works. I didn’t know anything about that when I started. I kinda just went along with it and figured it out, and that’s really important. I’m really glad we had an option to do that.¨

I would highly recommend Model State to anyone who wants to learn more about state legislature and meet some great kids. This was a glance into the future of American politics, as many of these kids will be our future leaders. Everyone was smart, respectful, and friendly which was revealing and comforting with our current political environment. As Mallory Burchill said, ¨It is very important that young people understand politics so that way they can have more of a voice and an impact on our country in the near future.¨ Besides, if our youth can figure out how to be tolerant and work together, then I believe the rest of the nation can too.