Answer: Going on NRECA’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in 2014 with Adams Electric Cooperative made a huge impact on my life and career path. After the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, I went to college in 2015, and in my first semester I realized it wasn’t for me. My dad is a lineman at Adams, and he told me about a call center position that was open at the co-op. I applied, and here I am 10 years later, still working at the cooperative that sent me on the tour. Without going on the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, I wouldn’t have had the courage to apply for that position. It gave me the background of what a cooperative is and how they work. I knew they restored people’s power already, but because of the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, I knew they cared about their community and membership, and as a result, that it would be a great place to work. I get to be a chaperone for the tour now, and it’s one of my favorite parts of my job. I share my story with the students each year and explain to them that there are other fulfilling career opportunities out there that don’t involve going to college. The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has helped me get to where I am today in my career.

Answer: Ten years ago, I was selected to represent Middle Georgia EMC as a delegate on NRECA’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. While I’ll always remember the experiences of that incredible week in our nation’s capital, what has stayed with me most is the lasting impact the program had on the direction of my life and career. At the time of the tour, I just graduated from high school and was preparing for my freshman year of college to earn a degree in education and become a teacher. The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, however, showed me that there were several avenues where I could use my voice and make a difference. It did not necessarily have to be in a classroom, but it could be in a newsroom, a boardroom, or any space where young people can lead, serve and make an impact. Just weeks after returning home from the tour, I changed my major to communication. That decision set me on a professional path to advance the cooperative movement both in the U.S. and around the globe, and was deeply informed by my experiences post-Electric Cooperative Youth Tour as Georgia’s Youth Leadership Council representative and NRECA’s national youth spokesperson. Today, I’m proud to be back where my cooperative journey began, serving as manager of communications and administration at Middle Georgia EMC and helping introduce a new generation to the cooperative business model as it was once introduced to me.

Answer: The day my group toured Capitol Hill, I called my family back home and told them I was going to live and work in D.C. one day. I knew I wanted to go into advocacy, and that my community back home could really benefit from more voices speaking up about rural issues. I ended up attending a small college in the North Georgia mountains, and because of the nature of small schools, I spent my senior year interning with the Office of Student Development, writing and editing campus policies. After serving as a staff assistant for the NRECA Electric Cooperative Youth Tour program for two summers, I now work at NRECA full time with the lobbying team, where I learn more every day about being an advocate for rural America and how our government can work for us. If you had told me at 16 that the trip I took over the summer would keep giving back to me long after, I probably would’ve laughed and moved on. But that is exactly what has happened! I have built lifelong professional and personal connections because of the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, and I even attended again this year as a chaperone! The Electric Cooperative Youth Tour has filled my cup again and again, and I recommend everyone to get involved with the program if you can.

Answer: NRECA's Electric Cooperative Youth Tour didn’t just influence my career. It started it. I went to Washington as a South Carolina delegate representing Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative, knowing almost nothing about co-ops. Then I was chosen to manage the Soda Pop Co-op, our student-run snack and beverage cooperative. Selling drinks from a bus sounds small, but it taught me about the cooperative model firsthand. Members pool resources, choose their leaders and share in the return. I came home understanding that a group of neighbors can own something as large as a power company. That week led me to an internship at The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, and more than a decade later, I’m still here. My first cooperative title was Soda Pop Co-op manager. Today, I help lead the same programs that shaped me. That includes the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, our Cooperative Youth Summit and the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl. And yes, I still stock the Soda Pop Co-op every June. I watch new delegates stand where I stood, and I can see the same switch flip for some of them. Electric Cooperative Youth Tour gave me my profession, my network and a purpose to work toward. I tell every delegate to pay attention. This trip might be your whole career. It was mine.