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Hicksville American Legion Girls State/Nation Representative
Congratulations to Hicksville High School senior Kerime Sule Akoglu, who represented Hicksville in American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation in Washington, D.C. this summer.
Sule commented that she has always been interested in politics and how our government works, and Girls State provided the perfect opportunity for her to further her knowledge. "At Girls State we learned about how state government works, and how a bill is processed at the state level," remarked Sule. "I wanted to continue my experiences in D.C. and get to learn how our federal government works." To achieve her goal, Sule delivered a speech in front of all 400 members of Girls State along with other aspiring youth senators. The girls voted on who they thought were the best and elected Sule to continue on as one of two representatives for New York State in Girls Nation.
"At Girls State, I was with some of the smartest girls in our state. I was exposed to many different styles of life and thinking." However, the diversity Sule experienced at Girls State was nothing in comparison to that of Girls Nation where two representatives from each state formed a "senate" consisting of 98 girls. The representatives spent time on Capitol Hill and held several "mock" senate sessions where they presented "bills" and had to defend the bill's merit to their group. ". . . we had disagreements from everywhere: people complaining that the new law would not benefit their state, or that it was unnecessary as a whole, etc.".
Sule commented that one of the best experiences of her time in Washington, D.C. was the tour of the White House's East wing and meeting President George Bush. Mr. Bush gave a speech to the Girls Nation members and posed for a photo with them. Being the Girls Nation representative form New York, she also met Senator Hilary Clinton who spoke briefly with Sule about where she was from and her future aspirations. Peter King also spent time with Sule on Capitol Hill, explaining his responsibilities and some of the issues he was dealing with.
What did Sule hope to bring back to Hicksville from these experiences? "I hope that my attendance in these programs will provide a gateway for my fellow students. I hope that their awareness of such organizations like the American Legion increases and they can get involved. I realized that there is a lot that citizens can do to get their voices heard, and I hope that I can relay this message to my community. Instead of complaining about the government, we can write letters to our senators and representatives urging them to pass or fail certain bills that are of concern to us. Our voices do not go unheard, instead they are actually taken under much consideration."
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