Boys Nation.

MizzBee
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 17:09:15 +0000

Meet as many people as possible, organize, run for Governor (most common way to get into Boys Nation) or another high profile office. Be the one that is seen as building a voting coalition. During debates, make inspiring speeches, and at all times, network. At the same time, many of the adults and your peers will not support you if you come off as trying too hard, looking desparate for the honor. During this week, you will be a politician, and you will see that likeability, popularity and dumb luck will often beat brains and preparation just as in real elections. Do know the ins and outs of state and local governement though, just to make the process easier. I know in many states, there is downtime for sports and there is marching involved, so make sure you don’t stand out in a bad way. If your state has a facebook page, get to know people ahead of time.

I attended Girls Nation years ago, and hopefully my son will be chosen for Boys State this year. If you don’t get into Boys Nation, it is not the end of the world. State is a real learning experience. I met several women that I would run into at college and later throughout the state (long before facebook and email) so it served well in networking for years.