I just spent a week at Boys' State, and holy cow was that tough.
Boys' State is a program sponsored and run by the American Legion, and invites boys who have completed the 11th grade and who are among the best and brightest in their class. The programs purpose is to teach he priciples of goverment and democracy through hands on experiance. The program runs for one week, and the boys are selected by an interview done by local Legioneers.
So, what happens there is as follows:
Boys from all across the state, in my case New York, are divided up into 10 counties, each containing 3 cities of 30 people each. The 10 counties make up the "State". Everyone runs for a position in government from the city to the state level. (I made Deputy Sheriff for my county) Everyone then does their job and learns what it takes to do the job. However, the hard part is getting elected. All 1000 boys are split into 2 Parties, the Federalists and the Nationalists, and party caucuses and other political rallies take place, then the nominies are voted upon by the whole population.
Here's the twist, the Marine Corps send 10 Marines to train and instruct the boys on drilling and discipline. In short, the atmosphere is much like a watered down Boot Camp, PT is at 6 AM, drilling practice is done as needed, the rooms and beds need to be made just so or the Marines trash the room, ect. It was alot of fun though, despite the Marines giving us hell all week long. We all owe so much to them.
The advantages of the program are so numerous, but among the best is the fact that it goes on your High School Transcript, and colleges everywhere are very impressed by it.
Anyone who wants to know more should go to the following web site, it was set up by the boys's state media team, who also published a newspaper for us each morning. Cruise around the site, you might even see a picture of me, but for my own privacy i wont tell you my name or number unless someone askes me over the tell lines, and then only if i trust you. Oh yeah, i also encourage you to watch the video, its about 20 min long, but it gives the best impression short of haveing been there about what happened there. (It does not show, however, what the Marines did to us when the cameras weren't looking
) By the way, if it seems like we were all brain washed, we weren't. just filled with pride in our counrty and our nations symbol of freedom, the American Flag!!
www.nyamericanlegionboysstate.org
If anyone happens to have been there with me, send me a tell if you see me! I'd love to stay in contact with my fellow Boys Staters! Or just anyone who knows what the program is or has heard of it or participated in previous years or in other states.
Semper Fi!
