Student gets first-hand political experience from national program
9:33 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Washington — Kansas has a new representative in Congress, at least for this week anyway.
KU senior Reba Good is in Washington participating in the first ever Model U.S. House of Representatives program.
"I'm working hard for Kansas interests. I'm all for helping education across the state,” Good said. “I'm very into protecting our nation and protecting Kansas workers."
Reba is one of 170 students chosen nationwide to participate in the program.
As a part of her responsibilities to her Kansas constituency, Reba is serving on the science committee.
And just like 3rd District Congressman Dennis Moore, she's debating a number of important issues.
"We've got a lot of things we are talking about before the bills go to the floor of the House,” she said. “One of them is embryonic stem cell research. Another is using hydrogen as a fuel instead of oil, so we are less dependent on foreign resources."
This unique experience is sponsored by the American Youth Scholarship Foundation.
Aurelia Figueroa is founder and executive director of the program
"Essentially it came out of the desire to serve the nation and to serve the purpose of finding the future leaders of our nation,” Figueroa said.
With this chance to simulate Congressional life, Reba is confident she wants to run for office someday. But first, she is planning to serve her country in another way.
"Well, I'm going to commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, so I'm serving our country for the next eight years,” she said.
In the meantime, Reba is enjoying the opportunity to debate the issues and understand more about the political process.
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