Girls State Girl Update

We appreciate all of our Girls State Girls! We love to hear how they're doing after Girls State. We got an update from a 2010 Girls State Girl, Natalie Hedelius, last week.

Natalie will be attending Brigham Young University-Idaho this fall majoring in Physics Education with a minor in theater and speech. She was the Salutatorian for American Leadership Academy and received two scholarships from BYU-Idaho in Academics and Music. She is headed to National Speech and Debate Competition this month and we got to hear her piece for the competition tonight. The video is a little shaky and I started a second or two after she started, sorry about that. We hope you enjoy her piece based on Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place. You can view her video here. Good luck at Nationals, Natalie!

Natalie also placed third in the Freedom Festival's Speech Contest. You can view her video here. Enjoy!!

Girls State Girls 2010

Morgan, Annie & Natalie

Natalie Hedelius

Girls State was awesome! I was able to go and learn more about how our government works on large scale, and small.

It was so much fun, and I was able to learn how I can help in my community. I learned how to be a better speaker, get out of my shell, and have fun. The girls were so nice, and Matheson City rocked!

I am so glad that I was able to attend girls state as a representative from Spanish Fork, and learn more about my country, and gain an even greater feeling of patriotism.

I am so excited for the next group of girls that get to go, and be led by the new Girls State Governor, Liz Layton. It will be great.

Morgan Alger

During Girls State I had the opportunity to learn so much but what benefited me most was the chances I had to be more outgoing meet new people and to run for offices, to do things outside of my comfort zone.

My most favorite part of girls state was the patriotic presentations and atmosphere that was constantly felt. I loved being around girls who had such a love for their country and our freedoms. We also were able to attend a retirement of the flag ceremony, which was amazing I had never seen something like it. I loved seeing all the little old veterans retiring the flag, they were just so cute. That ceremony is something that I will never forget.

I had an amazing time and so much fun. I learned so much about our country and government. I found new interest and new friends. I learned about other people and religions and I even learned something new about myself. Girls State is something I will always remember.

Annie Morris

Girls' State was more than I expected. When I put in an application to go, I had the slightest idea of what Girls' State was. Once I had an interview and checked out the blog that was created I became more informed and excited to be a part of this wonderful program. And even after going and being a part of Utah Girls' State I am still excited and thankful for the opportunity that Girls' State created for me.

The bus ride down to SUU was the first time to meet new girls and make new friends. I had a few bags of candy to share and I enjoyed sharing them with friends the whole week at Girls' State. No one really knew exactly what was just about to hit them so we were all on the same page and could relate to each other in that way.

From 6:00 in the morning 'till 10:00 at night all the girls were going, going, going. ('Cept in my dorm we didn't end our nights 'till about 12:30 :P). We had meetings, songs, meals, speakers, news, candy, and lots of fun all day, every day. I think one of my favorite things to do was to sing to the boys around campus. The summer games were going on on campus so there were handfuls of boys everywhere you would go. We weren't allowed to talk to them but we were allowed to sing to them a very funny song we learned called "Girls, Girls, Girls". Some of the boys thought we were a little crazy but others would ask us to sing to them. It was pretty great :).

During Girls' State I learned a lot of new things about our government and how things work. The City Mayor, a sheriff, Utah's Attorney General, someone in charge of a campaign committee, and lots of other speakers came to talk to us about their jobs and gave us some words of encouragement. I learned how the voting process works and how the Senate passes bills. We also had a mock trial and a lot of party caucus meetings. Those were really fun to be a part of.

I'm glad I had the chance to go to Girls' State and have an experience that I'll never forget. For all those girls who will have this opportunity next year, I encourage all of you to go for it! Even if you're not really interested in the government and/or politics, Girls' State is a great informative program and also a great place to meet friends for a lifetime.