This year’s Youth in Government’s  (YIG) Model Assembly Session took place Jan. 6 through Jan. 9.  It was held at the Minnesota State Capitol and the Minneapolis Hilton Hotel.  Many Orono students had looked forward to this trip for a long time.

The Model Assembly always takes place in January; with the participation of about 1,400 students from Jan. 8 to Jan. 12, from many delegations from all over the State. There are many program areas students can be a part of: Legislature, Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Trial Court, National Issues Forum, Lobbyist, Cabinet, TV, Radio and Newspaper.

Another YIG program is the Model United Nation. It takes place in March and discusses international issues differently than the Model Assembly, which only discusses Minnesota issues.

The Orono delegation has played an important role at the Session where students take important positions. Juniors Ben Engler, David Cook and Lexi Knight are Secretaries of State, Knutson, Senate President and Attorney General respectively. Sophomore Matt Larson is the newspaper editor in chief.

Junior Ian McNamara is on the Sanford House and part of the legislative body. McNamara stated,“Probably the most important thing I’ve learned is that it’s really hard to get a bill signed into a law. Every opinion matters.”

One thing students liked the most was the reality of everything on the Capitol.  Also, they enjoyed being in the Capitol, it was a new and exciting experice for the juniors that were there for the first time .“We always loved being there [at the Hilton] for YIG, but going to the Capitol really made the experience even more fun. It made it all so real and interesting, not to menetion the capitol is beautiful!” said Cook.

Both Cook, who won with 60% of approval, and Engler, with 47% of the votes, started their campaigns to get elected on Facebook, friend requesting many of the people on the same committee and introducing themselves. The most important thing, as both stated, was to make sure people knew who they were.

Engler, who is also the captain of both the debate and speech teams, has as his main plan “to run the elections as smooth and fair as possible,” since it’s his function to handle all the transmittal of the bills. “YIG actually feels like work. I’ve learned how to act in an adult professional situation,” he said.

“It’s a lot of work, and it can get overwhelming after working for three to four hours in the morning and more three to four in the afternoon,” stated Cook. But he added that the person just has to be interested and passionate about what they are doing. Cook even admitted that when he first started he wasn’t into government, but he always liked debating, “YIG made government interesting for me.”

McNamara explained that it’s not just hard work, they also got to debate “joke bills” just for fun, and there’s also a talent show on Friday night, and the governor’s ball on Saturday night.

For those and many other reasons, according to the Minnesota YIG website, approximately two-thirds of students signed up for next year. An example is junior Justin Doop, who’s been participating since 8th grade, “It’s a great experience. You get to do fun activities, be independent, and manage your own time.”

Students that have different areas of interest can also choose between YIG TV, the radio station, or the newspaper, those which are responsible on reporting what happens on the Model Assembly.OHS senior Anna Pendleton joined YIG TV her junior year, and is now studio crew graphics director and technical director.

“We do a morning show, that’s more of a talk show, and then an evening newscast,” said Pendleton. She also explained that there is a field crew, responsible for filming in the Capitol and getting information, and a studio crew, responsible for the morning shows and for writing the scripts for the news.

Despite enjoying YIG, Doop doesn’t want to follow the career in politics, “I don’t think I could sustain the amount of pressure. YIG is more laid back and fun.” Pendleton, on the other hand, said she’s even more interested in broadcast media than she was before joining YIG, but she also admits the pressure of it. “If someone does something too slowly, the entire production is halted until things are fixed,” she stated.