By Haarika Raavi
Ocotillo City Reporter
At the start of this 77th session of Arizona Girls State, the delegates entering the program were told by a notable guest speaker that the key to aiming far in a campaign, and subsequently achieving that goal, is to build relationships. As the group nears the end of our stay at the University of Arizona in Tucson, one must simply admit that the relationships built here have grown to be immensely strong.
Through interviews with two different delegates, the first being Paola Suarez from Cholla City and the second being Selma Lijan from Ocotillo City, this reporter was able to come to the certain conclusion that although the collective group may be embarking on different paths, Girls State as a program has shaped our futures like never before.
First, let us peer into some insight from Paola Suarez, the aforementioned interviewee, who served her highest position as her county’s Clerk of the Superior Court.
What school do you come from, Paola?
Suarez: I come from Kofa High School, it’s in Yuma, Arizona.
We learned a lot about building relationships earlier this week. How do you think that the relationships you have built this week will impact your life going forward?
Suarez: I think the fact that we have such a short amount of time here and we’ve already gotten so close, in such a few, like such a few amount of days, I think that just shows that […] all of the obstacles that we put in front of ourselves, out in the world where we have as much time as possible to build relationships, are nothing. You can get so close to someone in a day, like my roommate, we met on the first day and we were talking the whole day.
That’s sweet! How do you think that the experiences that you have had here at Girls State will impact your future- your career path or your life in general?
Suarez: So I think just being here and realizing… first you get so nervous about all the speeches, and the elections, and the campaigns, but it’s all fake. Like this entire thing is fake, so just remembering that makes you more confident.
So you can put that into the real world and say, like, no one’s going to remember if you stutter in your speech or something, so just go for it.
That’s a really good point. […] What’s your plan for your career path in the future? Has Girls’ State impacted that in any way?
Suarez: Honestly, I had little to no knowledge on the government before coming here, and at first, I was like “I just want to go to get the experience” and you know, it’s important to be an informed person when you get to voting and stuff.
So I was never interested in government as a career, and now it’s like, it’s interesting so now I’ll look into it. But, before that, like now, I’m still thinking about the psychiatry field. And it still applies, you know? […]
You still have to think about how people think, and how to target a certain audience or a certain demographic. So it tied it back together.
Next spoken to was Selma Lijan, another interviewee whose highest position was at the county level, with the role of County Director of Juvenile Detention Center.
So what’s your name and what city are you from?
Lijan: Hi, my name is Selma Lijan and I come from Ocotillo City, and I’m also from Peoria.
What high school do you go to?
Lijan: I go to Ironwood High School.
How do you think that the relationships that you built at Girls State, whether they be with your friends from high school or new girls that you’ve met, are going to impact you going forward?
Lijan: So I honestly truly love the friends that I made here, and the friends that I have from my high school, and I feel like in the future, we will definitely meet a lot and we’ll definitely get a little bit closer.
I mean, we still have our group chat and stuff, so I hope that we’ll be able to meet up every once and a while and have fun, y’know? So, yeah, I feel like we’ll still be friends in the future.
And how do you think that the experiences that you’ve had at Girls State will impact your future? Whether that be in your career or just many friendships, or other things like that?
Lijan: …throughout Girls State, I learned how to be a lot more open and a lot less reserved. I’m more of a reserved type of person, so like, I feel like towards the future and my future careers and goals like those, I feel like I would be more open to people and try to get to know them more, so it won’t be awkward at first, and more like friends immediately.
What are you thinking about for your career path? Has Girls’ State helped with that, or do you think it’s…?
Lijan: Yeah, so my future career will be somewhere in the medical field. And honestly, Girls State does not really help with it, but I did learn lots of new abilities like leadership, teamwork, and stuff like that, so I feel like that personality-wise, that would help with my medical career. But other than that, government doesn’t help my medical path.
Conclusively, the consensus is that although not each and every 2024 delegate plans on entering the government, this week long session has still managed to make a lifelong impact on those who attended it.
Knowledge of teamwork, leadership skills, and the governmental process will follow them as they continue on their own journeys, effectively meaning that the futures of the state of Arizona and the United States of America are one step closer to continuance of its honor and greatness.