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Taylor Harper (right) in 2013 at the U.S. Capitol with Little River Electric student delegates Amber Horton and Carly Watt on Washington Youth Tour.
Photo by Luis Gomez
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Veronica Worthington (second from left) with fellow youth tourists on their visit to the U.S. Capitol in 2015.
Photo by Van O’Cain
When they were teenagers, Washington, D.C., seemed like a world away from their South Carolina hometowns. But the trips Veronica Worthington and Taylor Burriss Harper took to the nation’s capital before their senior years in high school opened windows to a new world of possibilities.
“I remember feeling very proud and excited,” says Worthington, who was selected in 2015 to represent Broad River Electric Cooperative on Washington Youth Tour when she was a student at Gaffney High School. She joined dozens of other rising seniors from across the state on the all-expenses-paid experience. “It was an awesome opportunity because having to pay for a trip like that would not have been a reality for me and my family.”
The trip didn’t disappoint. Over the week, the South Carolina student delegates met lawmakers, toured historical sites, visited museums and went on a riverboat cruise on the Potomac River.
That trip also provided Worthington with a new perspective.
“The trip opened my eyes to more of the world and the kind of issues that are out there,” Worthington says. “It was my first experience being exposed to so many different people at once. It was kind of scary at first—it was the first time I’d been on my own—but it showed me that I could do it.”
When Harper represented Little River Electric on Washington Youth Tour in 2013, she claimed some independence of her own.
“That was my first time on a plane and the first time I’d ever been on an extended trip without my family,” says Harper, who grew up in Iva and now lives in Little Mountain as a Mid-Carolina Electric member. “I think the biggest thing for me was getting out of my comfort zone and doing something that was unfamiliar with people that were unfamiliar. I think that prepares you for life and for the workforce. I know that it helped me.”
Now, Harper is helping others gain their own independence. As an occupational therapist at the Singuard Center in West Columbia, she helps people who have suffered debilitating injuries and illnesses reclaim self-care skills to “do the things they want and need to do.”
“It can be hard some days, but it's also good to see them meet their goals and how excited they are,” says Harper, who is also a new mother and watching her daughter, 10-month-old Macie, reach developmental milestones such as crawling, walking and talking.
Worthington works for Public Policy Associates, a research and evaluation firm that serves clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors at the national, state and local levels. Her work aids in achieving the most from social programs and policies in areas such as education, criminal justice, food systems, child care and housing.
She has spent the last year traveling in Central America, learning more about local cultures, working on her Spanish speaking skills and volunteering for local environmental initiatives. It’s a a place in life she “never would have thought” she would be 10 years ago.
“I’m so fortunate and lucky to be living the life that I live,” Worthington says. “Washington Youth Tour jump-started me into thinking about ways I wanted to contribute and that there is a whole world out there. It’s a great opportunity that can influence that path you might go next.”
The trips had an impact on both young women, and Harper says she knows it can do the same for current high school students.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity,” she says. “Not only did we get to see museums, but we learned how we can reach out to our legislators. I think that’s important for the upcoming generation to learn—we elect them, and we can reach out to them about local and national issues.”
Want to apply?
South Carolina’s electric cooperatives will sponsor dozens of students on the 2025 Washington Youth Tour, June 15–20.
Co-ops also offers Cooperative Youth Summit, a leadership experience for high school sophomores held July 14-17.
Applications for both trips in 2025 are still open for some South Carolina electric co-ops, though the deadline for some co-ops may have passed. For more information on applying for either experience, click here.