Girls State participants learn about government

Friday, Jun. 23, 2023

SALT LAKE CITY — Six Utah Catholic Schools students received scholarships from the Catholic Woman’s League to participate in Girls State at Weber State University June 5-10. Madilyne Beaudry, Macie Erin Lane and Addisen Willardsen attended from St. Joseph Catholic High School. Jazmin Asmar, Mia Fang and Olivia Young attended from Juan Diego Catholic High School. 

Girls State participants learn principles of government and democracy by creating self-governing communities. They launch campaigns, run for office and elect representatives to serve them on local, county and state levels. They draft legislation and work to get those laws passed. They elect student senators to represent the state at Girls Nation in Washington, D.C. Throughout the week, the girls also hear from female leaders in government and business. 

All Girls State participants earn three university credit hours in political science.

Each of the six girls held different positions in local, county or state government. For example, Lane was elected mayor of Huntsman, her fictitious city. 

“It was awesome,” she said. “My friends, whenever they would come up to me, they would salute me and say ‘Miss Mayor.’”

Lane signed up for Girls State because she is taking AP Government next year and wanted to get a head start on understanding the political process, she said. “I thought this would be an amazing opportunity for me to actually learn more, especially with other girls, and really participate in the government. I learned a lot, more than I thought I would.” 

All of the girls interviewed for this article mentioned that the experience of getting to know other young women from across the state was valuable. 

“It was really awesome to be able to connect with girls I hadn’t met before from completely different backgrounds and cities all across Utah,” said Willardsen, who was elected as a county and state delegate.

Fang, who was elected as city recorder, registrar and sergeant at arms in her city, received the Weber State Presidential Scholarship. She said at Girls State she learned “a lot about how the election process works because we definitely learned about having a caucus and primaries and we ran a few of those; also how the roles worked, leaders on a city and county level, and how all of that runs,” she said. “I had never been too interested in politics before, but I learned a lot about how our Utah state government works and how I can be involved in that. I also learned that you don’t always win something that you want to get, and sometimes even with the hard work that you put in, the position can go to somebody else but just to keep trying, to know that you’re always not going to win in life but to try sometimes is the best that you could do.” 

She also appreciated being able to hear from female leaders in government, business and the community.

“It was very valuable to hear from them,” she said. “They gave us tips on how to speak more confidently, how to know yourself more so that we can go out and change the world.”

Asmar was elected as city secretary and found the entire experience beneficial as she considers a future career in law. “I think it was really helpful for the future not only in improving writing skills; you also learned how to write a speech and embrace your public speaking – that’s really helpful for future experiences,” she said, adding that she encourages all young women who have the opportunity to plan to attend Girls State.

“You gain so much out of your experience and it’s so helpful; you’ll meet new friends, you’ll learn new things, and so you have to go and try,” she said.

Each of the girls had different experiences that they will treasure, but all said one of the things that will stay with them is the sense of empowerment Girls State has given them.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt such an empowerment and belief that even as someone who has never had any experience outside of high school, or in the real world that much, that I can make a change,” Willardsen said. “It’s finding that grit and determination within myself and using that to support other people to build really great things for our life in the future and the lives of those around us. It helped me realize that’s possible, especially and most importantly because of where we are here in America, because it gives us the freedom that allows us to do that. Maintaining that freedom is what’s important. It made me feel the most patriotic I’ve ever felt.”

Beaudry, who was elected to be her city’s registrar, also received the Weber State Presidential Scholarship. In addition, she was elected as a county and state delegate and was chosen to represent Utah at Girls Nation, July 22-29 in Washington, D.C.  

“You don’t really see women in leadership roles and in power often, especially in our media,” she said. “So it’s a very powerful experience to be able to go and see opportunities for women to thrive in politics or science or some of the more underrepresented fields.”

Utah Girls State, which began in 1946, is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. Each year, the Catholic Woman’s League offers scholarships to Girls State that are open to all junior female students who attend Utah Catholic Schools, regardless of their religious affiliation.