Youth Senate Speech Analysis

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“The 2014 Youth Legislature will now recess,” I said as I stepped down from the podium my final year of Michigan Youth in Government. Having served as Lieutenant Governor for the Red Senate of Youth in Government, I had the distinct pleasure (and pain) of adjourning the final banquet. Everyone, myself included, found themselves gazing at the now empty podium. There was an immediate shock that set in throughout my body. The senior class of the 2014 Youth Legislature was seemingly taken aback while all others did not realize that the program we grew to love was coming to an end. It is hard to think that a program you first began in seventh grade would forever change your life. This, however, could not be more true about my involvement with Michigan …show more content…
Bill after bill was opened and I found myself in a very unique position: I was able to speak and people were actually listening to me. Not listening in the way that people you have had prolonged exposure with "listen." These other students were actively engaged, hearing the arguments I made and respectably refuting them. The debate we found ourselves in was based on open-mindedness and a thirst for change. When Governor Granholm came through at the time to give a speech about her involvement in Youth in Government it seemed very obvious to me. For the first time I realized that my voice, and the voices of my generation, truly mattered. We will be the ones who decide the fate of this country. We will be the ones who run for and hold elected office. We will be the next generation of politicians, lawyers, economists, and businessmen. The differences in my own self that stemmed from my participation in Youth in Government were as astounding as they were expiditous. Honestly, I used to be an arrogant, pissed-off bigot so set in my own ways that I refused to hear any voice of reason. Acting like a jackass and being close-minded was my daily routine before I joined Youth in Government. Almost immediately after returning home from the first conference I participated in, family and friends started to notice a significant change in behavior. These was something about me that was significantly altered during my time away from home. Aside from the possibilty that my heart grew three sizes in one day, it seems that exposure to varrying world views and legitimate friendship changed
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