Farouk Ramzan ’22, a rising senior at TMI Episcopal, was selected as a senator for American Legion Boys Nation held in Washington, D.C., July 23-30. Farouk was his party’s candidate for Governor at Texas Boys State, which had roughly 700 participants.
Reflecting on his time at Boys Nation, Farouk said, “It was an honor to visit all the memorials that symbolize American ideals and meeting with boys from literally every student in the nation. Most importantly, being able to pose my ideas to judgement to so many intelligent people was an honor and helped me realize on new methods to improve our nation.” At TMI, Farouk is a member of the Film Club, Politics Club, Philosophy Club and Literature & Improvement Club.
Boys Nation is an eight-day program held annually by the American Legion that includes civic training, leadership development, and a focus on Americanism. At Boys Nation, 100 “senators” learn from a hands-on approach how the U.S. Senate and the federal government function. Boys Nation senators wrote, introduced and debated a bill of their choosing before an appropriate Senate committee and, if successful at that level, the legislation was voted on by the whole Senate. Bills passing the Senate were later signed or vetoed by the Boys Nation president.
While at Boys Nation, students also had the opportunity to tour the National Mall, including the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall and Korean War Memorial. They also presented a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, saw the Iwo Jima Memorial and met virtually with their state’s U.S. senators.
This year’s crop of Boys Nation senators represent the finest of nearly 17,000 incoming seniors who attended Boys State programs. Famous Boys Nation alumni include former President Bill Clinton, actor Donal Logue, Govs. Chris Christie and Scott Walker, and Sens. Mike Lee and Tom Cotton. Notable Boys State alumni include Tom Brokaw, Michael Jordan, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Neil Armstrong, Roger Ebert and Justice Samuel Alito.
