“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” – Former President Bill Clinton
Over the years that I’ve been involved in Youth & Government this quote has really stuck with me. It encapsulates an idea that I cannot stress enough: we as individuals must take our individual skills and talents and make our program and community a better place. This quote has helped serve as sort of a basic guidance as to how I should live and interact with others – both in this program and in my everyday life.
I say both Youth & Government and my everyday life because at this point for me it’s hard to tell the two apart. Even when I’m not actually doing some sort of project or activity for Youth & Government that week, I’m still thinking about it. Be it brainstorming about a new possible bill idea, daydreaming about the lively debate we have in the chambers, or wondering about ways in which our program could become even better, Youth & Government has never been far from my heart or mind for the past five years.
When I spoke before the Youth Legislature as a candidate for Governor in May of 2008, I made sure to use President Clinton’s quote towards the end of my speech. However, I modified it a bit to make it more relevant to the audience, changing “America” to “this program”. I had my mind not only set on the lofty ideals of reforming several issues within the program, but also to instill the idea of that quote into the rest of the program. I wanted them to understand that this truly is their program and that it is what they make of it. The youth, the advisors, the staff, the facilities, the ideas and so much more in this program is superb, and any problem, issue or dilemma that participants in it see arise can be dealt with if they take the initiative to.
In the same spirit of this idea I recall another quote. This one was told to me at the Youth Governors’ Conference that I attended, and it was that “the purpose of a good leader is to create more leaders.” I sincerely hope in my time as Governor I can help fulfill this advice, and I feel that at a fundamental level creating more leaders is what this program has been about to me and should be about to others. With a program full of motivated, intelligent leaders, there truly will be nothing wrong with this program that cannot be cured by what is right with it.
