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I am 17. I have been closer to government than many, thanks to opportunities I am lucky to have had.
I didn’t personally know former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, who was killed along with her husband in the attacks over the weekend, but I saw her impact as I spent a week as a House page this year and lobbied with my organization. I heard people speak of her work at the State Capitol. I am a proud Minnesotan. Her loss is devastating.
I serve with the YMCA. Our Youth in Government program brings 1,600 young people from across the state to run a mock government in the same building Speaker Emerita Hortman led.
I have seen the optimism, strength, perseverance, enthusiasm and intelligence of my peers. Even as we become divided, we remain civil, kind and intent on building a better state — even an emulated one.
My fellow young people are the future leaders. You will soon rely on us to carry our state and world forward. The circumstances are not of our choosing. You have given us a planet hurtling toward environmental ruin, an economy where we cannot afford college, homes or health care, and a political climate that leads to political violence.
We mourn with you. But we also watch. We watch how you react and move forward from this tragedy. You have lost so many of us already — as you ignore us, decide without us — and it is in your best interest that you don’t lose more.
