My Experience - Youth Parliament

For the past 5 months, I have been meeting with a group of teens every Tuesday and Saturday at the Legislative Assembly. We would study past parliament meetings and make mock motions and amendments to bills, etc. This was all in preparation for what we call, 'Cayman Islands Youth Parliament.' There was maybe thirty of us, and we were split in to the two traditional groups; Government and Opposition. I was put on the Government side, as the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. After we were placed in our positions, it was time to find what we were going to debate on. The Government decided on a motion that would instill a new education system; that would provide doctorates in areas in which there were high expatriates holding these positions. The opposition proposed amendments to the child pornography bill that the Cayman Islands already has in place. We spent weeks building our arguments. People visited us, giving insight on the topics and helping us build or speeches. When the day came, we dressed in business attire and took our seats in the Legislative Assembly. We all presented our speeches to schools, parents, MLA's, the premier, etc. The event was also broadcast-ed on live television and on the radio. Even though it has been quite a stressful few weeks, balancing youth parliament, school, as well as other extra activities; I am happy that I took part in this. It has given me more confidence and experience and I have learned many things, as well as met new people. I would strongly urge anyone from the ages 13-18 to join that program! I would love to thank Ms Zena, who was the person that put in the most work with us and helped us tremendously!