For some people, getting chosen for a program that only accepts 100 out of 20,000 participants nationwide doesn’t seem within their reach. Yet West High student Andrew Dong ’24 was determined to experience this. After spending a week in Washington D.C. through the US Senate Youth Program, Dong wanted more, so he decided to apply for Boys Nation.
Boys Nation is one of the most selective and prestigious government educational programs for high school students in the US. Dong decided to sign up for Boys Nation in the summer to continue working on his public policy and speech skills. Boys Nation is an annual forum run by the American Legion concerning civic training, government, leadership and Americanism. The process of getting in is long and exhausting, but according to Dong, worth it.
When you contextualize Boys Nation, it’s the most selective and prestigious government educational program for high school students in the US.
— Andrew Dong '24
First, Dong had to reach out to the local American Legion post to get a sponsorship. From there, he was then chosen to go to Boys State, which is fairly easy to get into, Dong explains. “There are some cities that are more selective than others. Here in Iowa City, not many students choose to participate in Boys State. So my process of getting selected was pretty simple,” Dong said.
During July, Dong spent six days at Boys State, which was held at the National Guard Armory in Des Moines, with 200 attendees. At state, the participants form a state government, and in order to get chosen to go to Boys Nation, you have to give it your all and show that you can be a true leader.
In the state government that is formed, there are three levels of leadership. There are state-elected positions: governor, auditor of state, treasurer and state secretary. The second level is county elected positions: county commissioner, county spokesman and county councilman. The last level is city-elected positions: city police officers, health commissioners and more.
In order for Dong to have a better chance of getting chosen to go to Boys Nation, he needed to run for the highest level.
“To get a state elected position you have to get 30 nominating signatures from your fellow Boys State attendees. Then you have to give a speech in front of your party, that mimics the two-party system that our current government runs under. Instead of Republicans or Democrats though, the parties were Nationalist and Federalist. I was a nationalist, and I ran for auditor of state,” Dong said.
Dong made it through the first round, which was a party caucus. Here, people in your party voted to have you on the ballot for the general election, and Dong won this unanimously. After being put on the ballot, Dong won the general election on a 156 to 47 decision and won a state-elected position.
“It’s pretty nerve-racking. I mean, you have to give multiple public speeches and campaign effectively to guys you’ve never met before. The most important thing is just getting your name out there and making yourself recognizable.”
Although getting a state-elected position was stressful, after the election, the work slowed down. Dong explained that because he got a state-elected position, he did not have to do nearly as much work as the actual state government. However, all the other people who were county or city electives had a lot of work to do over the final three days.
Even though Dong did not need to apply for a state position to get chosen for Boys Nation, it definitely helped.
“Boys Nation is different from boys state… So again, we were split into Nationalist and Federalist but we were forming a federal government,” Dong said.
When asked what he did at Boys Nation, Dong said, “I decided not to run for any sort of federal office because I ran for state office at Boys State. I also learned how to campaign and I learned how to give public speeches, but at Boys Nation, I wanted to focus more on building personal relationships with the other guys. I feel like running for an election made your interactions with others ingenuine.”
Even though he decided not to run for anything big, Dong was still appointed as chief justice of the Supreme Court. So, it all worked out for him in the end.
“I liked Boys State more than Boys Nation, Boys Nation, the people there are of a higher caliber. The stuff we do is more intense. But the community environment and the atmosphere of Boys State I think is unparalleled. I feel like Boys State needs to be experienced. I feel like if you experienced Girls State, Boys State, Girl Nation or Boys Nation, you’ll understand just the camaraderie that is built between everyone.”
Due to Dong’s Hard work, he has gained national recognition for his determination and persistence. He has learned a lot from his experience at Boys State and Nation and made new connections. Dong encourages others to try and participate in the program since it teaches you a lot of life lessons and skills.
Boys Nation is a truly transformational experience regarding our role as citizens in our government. It’s inspired me to almost run for public office someday, and it kind of opens your eyes to your true role in life.
— Andrew Dong '24
