A journey to remember

My life-changing experience on the Washington Youth Tour

By McKen­zie Blan­chard, 2025 Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour del­e­gate

Each sum­mer, the Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour brings togeth­er more than 1,800 high school stu­dents from across the coun­try to the nation’s cap­i­tal for an unfor­get­table week. Spon­sored by elec­tric coop­er­a­tives across the Unit­ed States, includ­ing those in Geor­gia, the pro­gram is more than just a sight­see­ing trip—it’s a deep dive into lead­er­ship, civic respon­si­bil­i­ty and life­long friend­ships.

I was for­tu­nate to be select­ed as one of the del­e­gates rep­re­sent­ing Geor­gia. What I antic­i­pat­ed to be an excit­ing trip quick­ly turned into one of the most mem­o­rable and trans­for­ma­tive expe­ri­ences of my life. From the inspir­ing peo­ple I met to the pow­er­ful his­tor­i­cal places we vis­it­ed, the Youth Tour opened my eyes in ways I nev­er expect­ed. Our jour­ney began in Atlanta, where all the Geor­gia del­e­gates first gath­ered to meet each oth­er before fly­ing to Wash­ing­ton, D.C. I remem­ber the nerves mixed with excite­ment as I stepped into the ban­quet hall, unsure of what to expect but eager to dive in. I was sur­round­ed by high-achiev­ing peers from all cor­ners of the state, each with their own sto­ry, ambi­tions and pas­sions. We bond­ed quick­ly through ice­break­ers and group activ­i­ties. What sur­prised me most was how fast strangers became friends. Our com­mon ground wasn’t just our selec­tion for the trip, but also our shared sense of curios­i­ty and dri­ve to learn more about the world and our­selves.

Once in Wash­ing­ton, D.C., our days were packed from dawn till dusk. Our itin­er­ary includ­ed vis­its to nation­al land­marks like the Lin­coln Memo­r­i­al, U.S. Capi­tol, Arling­ton Nation­al Ceme­tery and Mar­tin Luther King, Jr. Memo­r­i­al. Stand­ing in the same places where lead­ers and vision­ar­ies shaped the country’s future gave me goose­bumps.

“Being at Mount Ver­non was more than sight­see­ing. It was like walk­ing with his­to­ry, trac­ing the foot­steps of America’s first pres­i­dent.” –Leighum White, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive

“A high­light for me was vis­it­ing the Wash­ing­ton Mon­u­ment!” –Ishaan Sai­ni, Cobb EMC

One of the most impact­ful stops for me was the U.S. Holo­caust Memo­r­i­al Muse­um. Walk­ing through the exhibits, see­ing the faces of vic­tims, read­ing the per­son­al sto­ries … it all made the his­to­ry feel painful­ly real. It was a sober­ing reminder of the impor­tance of empa­thy, jus­tice and stand­ing up for what’s right.

Anoth­er high­light was our tour of the U.S. Capi­tol. Not only did we wit­ness where democ­ra­cy takes place, but we also had the chance to meet with one of our state sen­a­tors, the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Lis­ten­ing to him speak direct­ly helped me under­stand how intense, yet impor­tant, gov­ern­ment can be and how much our voic­es real­ly do mat­ter.

Beyond the memo­ri­als and muse­ums, the tour focused heav­i­ly on lead­er­ship. Through group dis­cus­sions, guest speak­ers and team chal­lenges, we learned what it means to be a strong leader. I was par­tic­u­lar­ly inspired by how the elec­tric coop­er­a­tives from across the state empha­sized the idea of giv­ing back to the community—how true lead­er­ship is root­ed in ser­vice.

“One pow­er­ful les­son I learned from the Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour was the true mean­ing of ser­vant lead­er­ship. When one of our friends got hurt ear­ly on the trip, I took it upon myself to sup­port him so he wouldn’t miss out on any oppor­tu­ni­ties the rest of the week. Whether that meant help­ing him get around, car­ry­ing things for him or mak­ing sure he stayed includ­ed in all the activ­i­ties, I stepped in with­out being asked—because that’s what a leader does. I real­ized that lead­er­ship isn’t about stand­ing in front; it’s about stand­ing beside some­one when they need you most. That expe­ri­ence showed me that small, con­sis­tent acts of ser­vice can make a big dif­fer­ence, and that some­times the best way to lead is sim­ply to care.” –Claire Jef­fer­son, Flint Ener­gies

One of the most inspir­ing parts of the trip was that last day. When pin-trad­ing was most intense and peo­ple were the most talkative—on Youth Day—students from every state gath­ered for a mas­sive cel­e­bra­tion of youth lead­er­ship. The ener­gy in the room was elec­tric (pun intend­ed). See­ing so many pas­sion­ate, intel­li­gent and moti­vat­ed young peo­ple made me feel hope­ful for the future. It remind­ed me that we’re not alone in our dreams to make a dif­fer­ence.

While the trip was edu­ca­tion­al and inspir­ing, it was also a lot of fun. We danced on the river­boat cruise, explored muse­ums, shared late-night con­ver­sa­tions and bond­ed over every­thing from our home­towns to our favorite cere­al.

Some of my most cher­ished mem­o­ries are the ones that weren’t planned; singing along to music on the bus, laugh­ing until mid­night with my room­mate and even “Why did the chick­en cross the road?” jokes.

“One of the most mem­o­rable parts of the trip for me was when I went to Camp Co-op for the sec­ond time. Some of the del­e­gates from oth­er states also attend­ed, so it was real­ly the first oppor­tu­ni­ty I had to min­gle out­side of my state oth­er than pass­ing by pin trad­ing. I had a blast that night and met some amaz­ing peo­ple. It was a feel­ing I’ll nev­er for­get.” –Aku Kom­lan, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive

These friend­ships weren’t just casu­al con­nec­tions. They were real, heart­felt bonds that I believe will last for years to come. We all vowed to keep in touch through group chats and social media, shar­ing our col­lege plans, future goals and every­thing in between.

Before this trip, I had a some­what nar­row view of what lead­er­ship and cit­i­zen­ship meant. I thought it was about titles and respon­si­bil­i­ties. But the Youth Tour showed me that it’s about lis­ten­ing, learn­ing, serv­ing oth­ers and tak­ing ini­tia­tive in ways big and small.

Meet­ing peo­ple from across Geor­gia and oth­er states gave me a broad­er under­stand­ing of dif­fer­ent back­grounds and per­spec­tives. We had deep con­ver­sa­tions about our hopes and fears, our com­mu­ni­ties and the issues we care about. I came back home not only more informed but also more com­pas­sion­ate and empow­ered.

Since return­ing from Wash­ing­ton, D.C., I’ve car­ried the lessons of the Youth Tour with me every day. I feel more con­fi­dent in my abil­i­ty to lead and more com­mit­ted to using my voice for good. Whether it’s through stu­dent gov­ern­ment, com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice or sim­ply being a bet­ter friend, I know now that lead­er­ship is not some­thing you’re born with, but some­thing you prac­tice.

I also feel a greater sense of civic duty. Vot­ing, stay­ing informed and being engaged in local gov­ern­ment doesn’t feel like a chore; it feels like a priv­i­lege. The tour remind­ed me that democ­ra­cy is only as strong as the peo­ple who par­tic­i­pate in it.

I am immense­ly grate­ful to Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive and all the elec­tric coop­er­a­tives of Geor­gia for spon­sor­ing this trip and believ­ing in young lead­ers like me. Their invest­ment in us is a tes­ta­ment to the pow­er of com­mu­ni­ty and the impor­tance of nur­tur­ing the next gen­er­a­tion.

This tour changed my life—not in a dra­mat­ic, movie-like way—but in a qui­et, last­ing way that shapes who you are and who you want to be. It gave me mem­o­ries, lessons and friend­ships I’ll car­ry for­ev­er. Most impor­tant­ly, it showed me the kind of leader I want to become.

If you’re a high school stu­dent in Geor­gia and have a chance to apply for the Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour, do it! It will push you out of your com­fort zone, open your eyes and pos­si­bly change your life, just like it did mine.

“The Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour was tru­ly one of the best expe­ri­ences of my life. I got the chance to meet so many dif­fer­ent peo­ple and make friend­ships that I still cher­ish today! The Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour gave me the oppor­tu­ni­ty to leave my home­town and explore Wash­ing­ton, D.C., an oppor­tu­ni­ty I wouldn’t have with­out this pro­gram. From the del­e­gates and chap­er­ones, guest speak­ers, muse­ums and memo­ri­als to the expect­ed and unex­pect­ed, every­thing about this trip tru­ly was mem­o­rable!” –Micaela Vazquez, Oke­fenoke REMC

Pro­grams like the Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour are pos­si­ble thanks to gen­er­ous Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive mem­bers who allow their elec­tric bills to be round­ed up to the next dol­lar through Oper­a­tion Round Up. Those nick­els and dimes are pooled togeth­er and invest­ed back into our com­mu­ni­ty through the Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive Foun­da­tion