Home again, Home again

Well it's now been five days since we all went our separate ways at the capitol steps, but we all know it won't be the last time we see each other! The beauty of this program is that the friendships established this last week will only continue to grow, and many will become turn into life-long relationships! I can attest to this, as some of my best friends at OU are those I went through this program with three years ago.

Now for a wrap-up of the final day...

We awoke at the Hampton Inn-Bricktown to MUCH better weather than we did the previous Monday. We loaded up for the last time and headed to the capitol, where Representative Joe Dorman led us in a mock legislative session in the House chamber. The bill up for debate was about whether cell phone use in motor vehicles should be banned, or regulated somehow. The students debated at length, and even proposed a few amendments. The capitol photographer was present and took pictures throughout the day, and those pictures of specific students will be mailed to those students in the next couple weeks.

 After the debate ended and the dust settled, it was off to the Governor's Mansion! We enjoyed a wonderful Mexican lunch (Deja vu anybody?) and then began the graduation ceremony, where Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins addressed the group.

Following the address and a couple more speeches, we presented each class member with their graduation brick.

Following the presentation, the class divided into their five different groups and presented a skit they had been working on for the past few evenings that focused on the week as a whole. They were all hysterical!
"Kurt, tell me your life story!" Unfortunately, my camera conveniently ran out of battery right as these happened, sooooo you'll just have to believe me. =)

Then we said our final goodbyes as we loaded the bus one last time to meet our families back at the capitol to head home.

It was an absolutely amazing week, and I hope everyone has been able to sleep since!

Check out these two videos of Tanner and Jay from the talent show the night before. (Courtesy of Nguyen Le)

And what you've all been waiting for, here and here are all of the pictures from the week! (You don't need a Facebook account to view pictures.)

Also check out this press release in the Oklahoman!

Till next time!