Arshiya Alwadi – Manzanita City
Hello from Manzanita! I can’t believe we are already half-way through Girls State 2021! It has been an amazing learning experience and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings as well. Today, we started off with our county meetings to complete our primary elections! Bright and early, all the girls of Cocopah county got together and voted for our county and state positions.
In the session with all of the Girls State members, we listened to Kimberly Yee, the first Asian-American woman elected to the Arizona State Legislature. Her story about her time at Girls State and goal to bring together people from differing parties and opinions encouraged me so much. I loved her commitment and passion for making a difference and I truly believe that my time at Girls State will help me be a more active member in my community.
We heard so many great speeches from the candidates running for Supreme Court Justice, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and Superintendent of Public Instruction. The candidates’ speeches were a true reflection of their love and dedication to the community, and it was incredible to see.
For the second half of the day, we returned to our county meetings and Cocopah played an amazing game of two truths and a lie! I learned so much about my fellow friends— about their musical abilities, hobbies, pets—it was definitely a bonding experience.
Tomorrow are the general elections and I wish the best of luck to all the ladies!!
And for your Arizona fun fact of the day till I see you tomorrow: The world’s largest to-scale collection of miniature airplane models is located in Prescott, Arizona at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University