Augustana College is hosting the National Hispanic Institute’s(NHI) National Lorenzo De Zavala Youth Legislative Program, an eight-day program geared towards instilling leadership in top-performing high school students from five diffrent nations.
Seventy-six high-achieving students were brought together to conduct a “mock legislative session,” where they aligned themselves into parties, ran for legislative, executive, and judicial positions, and where they will now spend time trying to pass legislation. After electing their peers to office, the participants began acting out their roles, writing up and attempting to pass legislation that they felt best represented their community, all with the intention of community equity building.
One of the staff members who also attended this program in 2019, Juan Hernández-Romo, speaks highly of the challenge this process presents to the students, as well as the benefits it has on their problem-solving skills.
“It really challenges them and puts them outside of their comfort zone to be able to think outside of the box and be able to think critically and think of other ways that they can solve problems.”
In addition to the problem-solving skills they are developing, the students also look to enhance their leadership skills as they push for changes they want to see in their communities.
Chloe Siqueiros, acting Madame President for the duration of the event, understands the critical role that leadership plays in speaking up for her community, and it's that skill that she looks to gain the most perspective on from her experience.
“Definitely a lot of leadership, I think that’s one of the biggest points of NHI, but I’m just learning how to use my voice and advocate, not only for myself but for other people in my community, so I think that’s something I really want to get out of this program. “
One of the most valuable aspects of this program is the diversity present in the meeting hall, as each student is being opened up to a perspective that is not just their own. Every member of this program has been given the opportunity to not only share their opinion, but to hear the opinions of others in similar or drastically different situations from theirs, combining their experiences to come to the best conclusion.
Marcos Holstein, a student acting as one of the senators for the event, spoke on his experience as a student from Panama, and how he and his peers have come together to share their opinions in order to better understand where everyone is coming from.
“Everyone in here has different values. They have grown up in different circumstances or situations, and everyone being around is able to value everyone’s opinion and use what they’ve grown up with or what they’ve understood living up until now, to form an opinion, and everyone have a collective vote on something everyone can understand.”
The program concludes on Saturday, July 12th.