Dear Buckeye Girls State,

It’s been a while – over two years actually – but not a day goes by that hasn’t been impacted by you. You made me who I am today, and I couldn’t be prouder say I’m an alumna. You gave me not only one of the best weeks of my life, but also 45 sisters to forever remember it with.

Before you, I never really had an interest in politics or in government. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to make either of those a career. When I applied, I was in the middle of a government class and was only beginning to understand how our government worked. You not only taught me more about that than any class ever could, but you also taught me how to run it. You taught me that running a government is what you make it and that, like with anything, you get out what you put in.

Before I came to you, I was already a leader, but I wasn’t nearly the kind of leader that I wanted to eventually be. I had never imagined myself talking to hundreds of strangers while campaigning or getting up on stage to lead the entire assembly in cheers. You got me to do that in only a few short days. I’ve always been quieter in crowds of people I don’t know, and I especially don’t talk much unless I really know the people I’m with. You helped me find the confidence within myself to speak my mind regardless of this, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Despite a few debacles over the course of the week, I wouldn’t trade my experiences with you at the University of Mount Union for anything else. You made Bica-Ross Hall a home that was hard to say goodbye to in only seven days. I never expected to be so excited about my day that I almost didn’t mind getting up so early. I didn’t know I needed you at the time, but I owe a lot to you. You taught me how to go after what I wanted and, because of you, I’m now taking a sequence of classes in world politics and foreign affairs as part of my college degree at the school that I’ve always wanted to go to.

I know I speak for all of my sisters when I say thank you for everything you gave us. Some of the greatest women I know are thanks to you, and I’m proud to know them and see what they’ve done. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Buckeye Girls State. Thank you for turning what I thought would be an ordinary week into an extraordinary start to the rest of my life.

Love,

A 2015 BGS Davidson Sister