Alums use DC experiences to leverage opportunities
By Claire Stevens
Youth Tour participants pack a lot into one week—visits to museums and monuments, meetings with congressional representatives, a cruise on the Potomac River, wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, and performance at the Kennedy Center. But the impact of Youth Tour extends well beyond that very busy week.
Alumni of the Government-in-Action Youth Tour often go on to pursue exciting and impactful careers, bringing with them the experiences, connections and knowledge they gain on the trip.
Madelon Clark’s first trip to Washington, D.C., and first encounter with government were in 2018 when she represented Southwest Texas Electric Cooperative on Youth Tour. She knew right away that she wanted to return to D.C.
“The trip as a whole made me interested in pursuing a career in government or public service,” she says.
That interest led to an internship on Capitol Hill during college. After graduation, that internship turned into a job in D.C. doing communications for Rep. August Pfluger, who represents her hometown of Menard.
“I am forever thankful for Youth Tour exposing me to Washington and the hustle and bustle of the city,” Clark says. “Youth Tour is not only a trip, but it can be a transformative experience for your professional or personal career.”
Emily Farmer also walked away from Youth Tour feeling transformed.
“It has quite literally changed my life,” says Farmer, who attended in 2023. “I saw and experienced so many things in such a short time that will stay with me as long as I live.”
But Farmer left with so much more than memories. Her roommate on the trip, Mallika Jade, had already graduated high school and told her about opportunities available after graduation.
“She encouraged me to not limit myself to just what I could obtain locally in Texas but to push outside of that,” says Farmer, who was sponsored by Houston County EC.
Jade, who represented Pedernales EC, encouraged Farmer to apply to a program that connects students with top colleges. Farmer received a full scholarship and was accepted to Brown University, where she plans to study public health or social science.
“Without Youth Tour, I wouldn’t have even applied to Brown University,” she says. “It’s weird to think all of it happened because I decided to apply to [Youth Tour] at the last minute.”
In addition to the memories and opportunities Farmer gained, she also left Youth Tour with lasting friendships. She still keeps in touch with Jade, and she and another friend she made on Youth Tour went to the Houston
rodeo during spring break.
“Not only did it leave me with lasting memories, but it has also left me with friendships and a new perspective on life,” Farmer says.
Another Youth Tour alumni that left D.C. with a new outlook is Ria Bhasin, who represented CoServ in 2018.
“I remember learning about all the opportunities in advocacy and policy during Youth Tour through all our trips to the museums, national monuments and through the speakers we had,” Bhasin says. “That made me so excited.”
To document the trip of a lifetime, one of the trip’s chaperones gave her a journal. At the end of the trip, she wrote in her journal that she wanted to return to D.C. “It impacted me that much,” she says.
In college, Bhasin returned to the capital to intern at the Alliance for Health Policy.
“The most surreal moment for me was being able to work adjacent to the Capitol,” Bhasin says. “It was a full-circle moment.”
Now Bhasin is a first-year medical student at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, where she’s working to become a pediatrician and work in preventative medicine policy.
“I really am grateful for the opportunity Youth Tour gave me when I was in high school,” Bhasin says. “It set the tone for my career.”
Ask any of these alums, and they’ll tell you the worst thing a student can do is not apply and miss a fantastic opportunity.
“Not only will you make friends that will last you a lifetime, but you’ll also have experiences beyond anything you could have ever anticipated,” Farmer says. “Youth Tour was more than I could have ever dreamed of.”