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On her visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Aniyah Bryant etches the name of Maj. James Westley Ayers of Moncks Corner. Each South Carolina Youth Tourist was given the name of a servicemember from their hometown to find on the wall.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Natalyia Jordan celebrated a sweet birthday with surprise treats from Georgetown Cupcake while on Washington Youth Tour.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Ellie Tope and Madelyn Hawkins pose with a history reenactor at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Nyssa Kuonen (right) trades state pins with a Youth Tourist from North Dakota. South Carolina’s pins depicting the notorious Lizard Man were popular with other states.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Ginna Wates and Ella Mathis Miller find out that the best time to visit the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial is at night.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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During their tour of U.S. Capitol, some of South Carolina’s Youth Tourists had the privilege of going on the Speaker’s Balcony outside of the House Chamber.
Photo provided by Van O'Cain
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Secret Service or just chill on Capitol Hill? Driggs Mitchell, Chris Joby and Eli Yarborough see bright futures ahead after their Washington Youth Tour experience.
Photo by Griff Jackson
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Josie McCotter did more than just hang out at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, where students could simulate the basic training experience at Parris Island.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham received a pair of “I Love My Co-op” socks when he showed up to speak to South Carolina’s Washington Youth Tour students.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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U.S. Sen. Tim Scott speaks to students on the Capitol steps.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Among the many landmarks in Washington, South Carolina students visited the World War II Memorial.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Kimmy Hurst walks through the Ejszyszki Shtetl exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a collection of family photos depicting the rich life and culture of Jews in a small Lithuanian town prior to the Holocaust.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Griff Jackson reflects at one of the benches engraved with a victim’s name at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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It wasn’t all monuments and memorials. Grayson Catterton got to feel some Washington wool, petting one of the hog island sheep at Mount Vernon.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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The Washington Youth Tour students unfurl the garrison flag at Fort McHenry.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
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Jernee Ford takes an important call behind a replica of the U.S. president’s Resolute Desk at The People’s House museum in Washington.
Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
MONDAY, JUNE 16, had already been an eventful day for Natalyia Jordan. After a morning tour of George Washington’s Mount Vernon and an afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery, she and the other 70 South Carolina high school students on Washington Youth Tour had a few hours to rest and freshen up before an evening dinner cruise down the Potomac River.
But first, an assortment of confections from Georgetown Cupcake were waiting for the Palmetto State contingent inside their hotel, making Jordan’s 17th birthday that much sweeter.
“It’s the best birthday I’ve ever had,” says Jordan. “This is the most ‘happy birthdays’ I’ve ever gotten. People who aren’t even my friends were telling me happy birthday. It’s the most known I’ve ever felt.”
Washington Youth Tour is an annual experience for rising high school seniors sponsored by the state’s electric cooperatives. Jordan represented Berkeley Electric, one of 21 electric cooperatives and associations sponsoring South Carolina students.
The five day, all-expenses-paid trip each June gives students the opportunity to learn how government works, walk in the footsteps of the founding fathers and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. They also spent a day on Capitol Hill, visiting congressional offices, touring the Capitol Complex and meeting U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott on the Capitol steps.
On their final night, South Carolina’s students were among more than 1,800 students from 44 states gathered at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to hear from national cooperative leaders, former Youth Tourists and paralympic gold medalist Mike Schlappi. Schlappi, who was shot in the chest when he was 14 and lost the ability to walk, challenged the students to overcome difficult circumstances in his motivating keynote address.
“I’ve had a low point in my life where I felt like, ‘What’s the point of anything?’” says Jordan. “(Schlappi had) a low point, and he’s risen from that and he’s doing amazing things. It was inspiring.”
Jordan says the entire five-day trip through the nation’s capital and surrounding landmarks has made an impact on the way she feels about her country and herself.
“It’s made me more patriotic and also makes me feel less afraid to be myself,” says Jordan. “If you are yourself, you will attract the right people, and I feel like I’ve done that during this trip.”