By Kristine Thomas
For one week, her peers addressed her as Oregon Sen. Jasmine Ahrar.
Spending one week in Washington, D.C. in July at the American Legion Auxiliary’s Girls Nation helped Ahrar realize she could turn her dreams into “something real.”
“I would like to be an international delegate for the Middle East one day,” she said, adding her experiences attending Girls State and Girls Nation have shown her how to achieve her goal.
Ahrar’s journey from the hallways of Silverton High School to meeting President Barack Obama at the White House began in late May when she asked high school counselor Sue Fisher about ROTC programs.
That conversation shifted to Fisher sharing with Ahrar about American Legion Auxiliary’s Oregon Girls State, a nonpartisan program that teaches incoming senior high school students first-hand how their state and local governments work.
Laughing, Ahrar said besides studying for finals, she had to rush to complete the application.
“I almost didn’t make the deadline to apply,” Ahrar said. “I usually don’t do things last minute but this was just one of those things.”
She was the only Silverton High School girl to apply for Girls State and found herself in Salem in mid-June, surrounded by high school girls from across the state.
The week-long session provided Ahrar insight on how her state government worked – from running for office to drafting bills.
“We had girls in the House and the Senate,” she said.
When she heard about the opportunity to be one of two girls to represent Oregon at the 66th annual American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation, she put her name in the hat – along with 100 other girls.
She had to take a current events quiz, give a speech, answer questions before judges and peers, and share how she would change Oregon for the better.
When she made it to the top four girls, her final task was to spend 10 minutes each with four groups.
“I was asked questions from what I would gain from the experience to some goofy questions,” she said. “Someone asked me to do my favorite dance move, so I did it. I didn’t shy away from any question. I knew this was the chance to let my personality shine.”
When asked to describe Oregon and the state’s best quality, Ahrar answered she believes Oregon is a diverse state with different ethnic, religions, cultures and occupations. She translated her example to her hometown of Silverton where she is the only Iranian and “I can still be me.”
“I live in a town with white collar and blue collar workers,” she said. “We are artists and bankers and farmers and entrepreneurs and we live and we work together.”
Ahrar, along with Dorian Kershaw from Hillsboro, were chosen to spend seven days in July in the nation’s capitol. All states except Hawaii sent two girls to Girls Nation.
At both Girls State and Girls Nation, Ahrar introduced a bill called the National Voter Registration Act that would require high schools to have voter registration forms so students could register to vote when they turned 17.
“My goal is to increase the number of 18 to 25 years old who vote,” she said. “I think by having voter registration forms at the high schools, it would be more accessible and more students would register to vote.”
At Girls Nation, the senators are divided into the Federalist and Nationalist parties. Ahrar was the keynote speaker for the Federalist Party.
She got to meet interns at the capitol and ask what it was like to work on “the Hill.” She spoke with Sen. Jeff Merkley’s senior advisor, Will White, who encouraged her to look into a summer internship next year.
Even though she and her fellow senators had some lively debates, Ahrar said they would return to the dorm, eat junk food and talk about other things.
“I can honestly say I have a friend in every state,” she said. “I met some amazing girls. I realize how different we are from each other but it was amazing how we still got along.”
Her hero is Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister. “She’s my inspiration,” she said. “I think for many of us at Girls Nation, we met and learned about some amazing women who showed us what we can do and what they overcame to get where they are at.”
The only disappointing moments were visiting the House and Senate floors and seeing both nearly empty.
“Many of us at Girls Nation want to be there one day. It goes back to the opportunities we have in this nation,” she added. “We have to vote, if we want a democracy. We have to let our Congress know what we expect from them. The only way to have a democracy is if we are attentive to what’s happening and we all participate and that means voting.”
A surreal moment was meeting President Obama, she said.
“We got to tour the White House and he shook everyone’s hand after we were introduced. He took time to meet all the girls and boys from Girls Nation and Boys Nation and he didn’t rush each meeting. I even gave him a big hug,” she said. “He was so nice and so genuine.”
Looking back, Ahrar realizes the summer she had almost didn’t happen. It was by chance, she said, she learned about Girls State. And it was gumption and a belief it’s better to try and fail, than fail to try that led her to being chosen to attend Girls Nation.
She’s thankful for her mom, Kristine Dahl, who has always told her she can do whatever she puts her mind to. And she’s thankful she took advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I definitely went into Girls State and Girls Nation and gave it all I had,” she said. “I knew I couldn’t be timid or shy and I really had to show people who I was and take advantage of the opportunities before me. I knew there wasn’t going to be a second chance.”
Her senior year is going to be busy with applying for colleges, taking AP and college courses and being the senior class president plus whatever else she decides to add to her plate. She would like to go to college in Washington, D.C. and have an internship with one of the state’s senators.
The experience she had this summer has provided her with an idea of what she needs to do and where she needs to go to achieve her goals. Her word to describe what it takes to move along that path is “gumption.”
“I think things happen for I reason. I know I am going to go somewhere in life. And the biggest reason it will happen for me is because when I want something I go for it and I put the work in needed to get it,” she said.
