Instant friendships

We all come from our own ALA Girls State programs, from basically 49 different worlds. Today was the beginning of ALA Girls Nation, where we united those worlds. We all knew the deal--getting thrown into a group of strangers that we’ve never met before, expected to make instant friendships and become comfortable living with each other in one short week. Why would we do this? It’s the passion for patriotism, the passion for America, and the passion for gaining knowledge of the political world. It’s the feeling of walking up to a group of girls at an airport and being greeted with “what’s your name?”, “where are you from?” and “how was your flight?” without a second thought, that makes it all worth it. Today, it seemed that within a Nano second, if you didn’t know us, you would think we were all long lost friends. We may have accents and we may have different home lives, but we must all have something in common because, well, here we all are, at ALA Girls Nation. Here at the 4-H Center the atmosphere was indescribably welcoming with all the junior and senior counselors. Having your personal hallway and own community makes it feel like this is home, and it is, for this week. We had a lot thrown at us this first day and some of us may be a little (or a lot) over-whelmed, but just by these first hours you can tell it’s going to be a great week. I am sincerely looking forward to it and can anticipate that ALA Girls Nation will be one of the best experiences of my life.

Abigail Lore, Senator
Spring Valley
New Hampshire