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  • Essay / How a week at Boys State changed my life

    Over the course of a lifetime, it is quite difficult to find a lasting friendship. As a witness, I disagree with those who believe that in one week your life can have a positive impact. I found myself in this situation very skeptical but eager to explore something new. It was Sunday, July 14, 2015, and more than five hundred high school students and I made the trip to the University of South Carolina. We arrived at the hostel with a huge amount of luggage. I learned that my roommate was not from my school. His name was Allan, you would probably say we are best friends as we talked and laughed and asked each other about our life at home. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The afternoon went pretty well and it was time for the evening's festivities. Allan and I were instructed by our junior councilor, Hunter, to meet in the lobby conference room for our town meeting. We were shocked to see fifty other young men crowded into the small room, just as stunned as we were. There we met our senior advisor MaCnail, originally from Orangeburg, and our other junior advisor Zane. We immediately learned that Boys State was divided into nineteen different towns and that in those towns you would live and commune with these guys for the entire week. The names of the towns were rather unusual and difficult to pronounce, but they were real places or landmarks throughout the state of South Carolina. Some of them included Enoree, Saluda, Ashley, Waccamaw, Keowee and my town, Tugaloo. We greeted each other and chatted over pizza, but that barrier of comfort hadn't yet been broken. After our meeting, it was time for our opening assembly, which would be held daily in the old Carolina Coliseum. We marched everywhere with our cities in two distinct lines, which showed the difference between the nationalist and federalist parties. Every citizen, as we were called, was a member of one party or another and could be recognized by a red “Nat” or blue “Fed” badge. From our dorms it was about a ten minute walk, which was very tiring considering it was triple digits all week. Sweat was pouring from every possible place on our bodies, but through it all we made it through, thankfully without anyone passing out. It seemed like we were entering a technological wonderland, with huge projection screens everywhere, an array of neon lights. , flat screen TVs and the best sound system money can buy. We were all excited to finally meet the rest of Boys State, and the energy that filled the Coliseum was at an all-time high. We stood there for hours, most of us falling asleep due to the boring and comical board conferences. They exclaimed that the experience of the next five days would stay with us forever. Many, including myself, thought it was all a lie, but as the days grew closer to our departure, we wished it would happen again. As a group effort, each city competed for awards, including those for wit, best lines and cleanliness. , cleanliness of dormitories and sports competitions. Every day we found ourselves on a huge open field for what we call calisthenics. There we participated in the day's sporting activities as a city. Teamwork played a big role,.