Youth In Government (YIG) goes to the Minnesota capitol for a four day event lasting from Jan. 4-7 every year. Students choose a part of government to take the place of and put forth legislation to be voted on by other students. This puts students in positions to resolve issues and to cooperate to make a better future.
YIG advisor Emma Engebretson said the whole trip went well, and she felt like everyone enjoyed themselves and came together as a group.
“I think that everybody had a good time. We formed a pretty strong community,” Engebretson said. “We doubled in size from last year to this year which definitely helped.”
Sophomore Sydney McGary-Walters said it was a good trip for her. She said she was a little apprehensive at first because it was her first time, but it ended up being fun.
“It was my first time this year so it was pretty new and a little bit scary, but overall it went well,” McGarry said.
Junior Sylvia Tolzin said one thing that went well was how collaborative and eager people were to help each other get work done or their bill passed, no matter their school or grade.
“If there was a bill struggling with fundraising or enforcement, there would be people actively going up and writing amendments to make sure that this person’s bill got passed,” Tolzin said.
McGarry said her biggest takeaway from the trip was that she was able to connect with a lot of new people and learn how to connect with people who had different ideas than she had.
“I met a lot of different people,” Mcgarry said. “They all had really different opinions and I learned how to communicate with people who thought differently than me.”
Tolzin said her favorite part of the whole trip was being able to relax after presenting her bill and hang out with her friends.
“At the end of the day, after we were done with all of our work that we needed to do, we went back to the hotel and there was a cotton candy machine and I got to eat one that was the size of my head,” Tolzin said.
McGarry said that one thing she would change if she could would be shortening the days so people could get more sleep and have more free time.
“I would change how long our days are and make sure you didn’t have to wake up as early and get home so late,” McGarry said.
Engebretson said she wants to ensure that YIG can continue on for years to come through reliable funding. She said she hopes that people continue coming back and the program only expands from here.
“I would have loved to have a sustainable source of funding for the program to make sure that it is able to happen every year,” Engebretson said. “I hope that the program will continue to grow and we can continue to create systems where everyone feels supported.”
As this conference was the culmination of what they have been working for, YIG will not meet again until next year.
