Being a part of Boys State is something that I will never forget. At the beginning of the week, all 600 fellow Boys State participants across Virginia became divided into 16 “cities” with the aim that we will all compete against each other to attain the title of “Best City.”

I had been put in Maury city and at first, I thought that everybody in my city was going to be stubborn and arrogant since we were all intelligent kids with a lot of “credentials” per se. Thank god that did not turn out to be the case, however.

After breaking the ice in our first city meeting, I was still quite unsure about everyone’s character and they all were too.

The first two days at Radford were quite tough. It was rainy and were all exhausted. But going through this together is what made us magically click and bond.

After that point, we all enjoyed being with each other and didn’t mind having to wake up at 5:30 or so every morning. Throughout the entire week, we bonded like a family, something that we know no other city had. In our eyes we were the best city in a way different from others, although we placed 6th out of the 16.

Other than that, Boys State offered us with opportunities like no other. We got to hear lectures from major Virginian politicians (including the Governor Terry McAuliffe himself) as well as hear an inspirational story from Radford alum Chris Skinner who has faced a lot of hardships in his life. I definitely learned a lot regarding how our state government works and it was entertaining to pass a bill that lowered the drinking age to 18 and legalize marijuana in VA.

But of course, the best part of the entire week was getting to meet new people from across the state.

Overall, I strongly encourage any rising Juniors with any interest in government to ask about Boys/Girls state.