By Merlin D’souza – City of Saguaro
Day 4 of Girls State was very enlightening. Today we learned more about how Arizona’s government runs. Hearing from state officials who shared their journey was wonderful, as it demonstrated that there is no one way to enter politics. Something that stuck out to me was that by trying out student government in high school and serving their community they evaluated their love for public service. It is a great way for students to get involved in their community until they can legally start serving in their state office.
Kimberly Yee, Arizona’s state treasurer, is the first Asian American to serve in the Arizonan state legislation. She had an amazing story of how she grew from her experience as a citizen of Arizona Girls State into the leader she is today. The amount of money she handles for the public is astounding, going into the billions. She shared her story of growth and reminded all of us that no matter our parties, we must work beyond that to get things done in our mythical cities and in our own cities.
I was excited to learn more about how bills are proposed and passed. Extensive, is the only way to describe the process. Even though passing a bill is extensive, it made me proud to see this process happen. This procedure of passing a bill captures the beauty of the democratic system. The bill changes as it passes through the house of representative and senate until it reaches the satisfaction of both houses. This bill then gets sent to the governor for the final seal of approval and the bill is now an amendment on the way to becoming a law.
Today in the County of Kaibab, my fellow citizens gave amazing speeches for the position of governor and secretary of state. I can’t wait to see who will represent us in the state election. Very excited for Day 5! Until tomorrow…