You Can Do It From Here

Girls State had the privilege to have former Governor George Nigh speak to us in our afternoon assembly. When he was in 9th grade, one of his teachers asked them to write on a piece of paper what they wanted to do when they grew up, he wrote “I want to be the Governor.” He ran for office his senior year of college and he was elected as the youngest Representative at 23 years old. Governor Nigh said, “I was the youngest Legislator and Lieutenant Governor. Now I am the oldest Governor still living.” His mother was a part of the American Legion Auxiliary, so once he became Governor his mother’s friend invited him to speak to the future Oklahoma female leaders. He has come to Girls State to speak every year except one, since he became Governor.

He spoke quite a bit about Oklahoma history, sharing that three counties used to be in Texas but someone didn’t read the fine print of the Louisiana Purchase and confused the boundaries between Texas and Oklahoma. Now those three counties are one county in Oklahoma. He also told us to be Governor you have to be 31, and he applied when he was 30 because he didn’t read the fine print. Luckily when he was elected he had turned 31, but that is why you always need to be cautious and really know what you're signing up for.

I think everyone's favorite part of his speech was the story he told about changing the Oklahoma state song. He put a bill in for changing the Oklahoma state song from “Oklahoma A Toast” to “Oklahoma!” When he put it in, a Legislator from Ada cried and sang the song “Oklahoma A Toast” so Governor Nigh asked to vote the next day and everyone agreed. He had a women's choir sing and dress in costume, and sing all the songs from the Broadway show. When they got to the song “Oklahoma!” everyone sang along and cheered. And so when it came to voting for changing the song to “Oklahoma!”, it passed. Governor Nigh said if he hadn’t asked to vote the next day our state song would not have been changed.

Governor Nigh has made it clear how proud he is to be an Oklahoman, and how proud we need to be. He named off people like Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench, Will Rogers, and 5 Miss Americas who were all from Oklahoma. We can do it from here, we can get anything we want done in our state if we are willing to do what it takes. As long as we are reading the fine print and being careful with what we commit to, we can do it from here. So be proud to be an Oklahoman, be proud of everything that the people before us have stood up for and gotten done for our state. Girls State, we can do it from here!

–Hannah Fitzgerald, Bonham City