Letter From Raj Patel

Subject: Boys State Recap - Raj Patel



To Everyone who Believed in me,

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of what happened during Boys State, I want to extend a hand of the utmost gratitude to all of you. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend such an esteemed program, and the concepts and lessons I learned about this week were invaluable. I am never going to forget this experience, and it wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t believe in me to represent both Cy Woods and our American Legion Post at Boys State.

I think that in order to fully contextualize what I experienced at Boys State, I would have to start telling this story right after I got nominated. It was the third week of March when Coronavirus fears in the United States prompted school districts across Texas to start shutting down schools, eventually closing their doors for the rest of the year a few weeks later. For people like myself who were participating in summer programs, the circumstances forced us to adapt. One by one, the programs that I was looking forward to attending in person began to either postpone for a summer or shift online.

When I heard that Boys State was going online, to say I was disappointed would be a drastic understatement. Having had family members rave about their experiences at Boys/Girls State during their respective years, I knew that the experience probably wouldn’t be comparable to those past. I was looking forward to meeting politically-driven peers from all around Texas, but communicating online is different than in person. However, in the spirit of flexibility, I collected my signatures and sent in my application.

Like many of my peers attending Boys State, I had no idea what to expect going into the virtual program. Would I have technical difficulties? Would I be able to effectively communicate with the other attendees over video conference? Would the spirit of Boys State be maintained through virtual means? These were all questions that I wouldn’t get answered until the first day, and my anxiety was honestly through the roof in the days leading up to Boys State.

The first night of Boys State was probably the worst for me because the technical side of the program was buggy and I wasn’t able to attend the opening session. However, when we broke into our city groups (I was in Townes City) during the first night, I began to understand why everyone I had talked to about Boys State had fallen in love with it. In a city of only 45 people, they began to walk us through the logistics of Boys State and the elections code. Even though my peers and I weren’t really talking, the energy in the WebEx room was infectious. All of us were so excited to start, and the vibes of our city made the entire experience more positive in general. 

On the first two nights (Saturday and Sunday), our city covered all of the procedural rules. We elected a mayor and other city officers on Saturday night, and we elected delegates to represent our municipality’s party (I was a Nationalist) at the County Convention on Sunday. I was one of those delegates, and I got to vote on the issues that were important to us. We then took those issues to the State Nationalist Convention, to which I was also elected to be a voting delegate from my county. The voting delegates were to represent our municipality’s interests while building the Nationalist party’s platform. Although I was already elected to those positions, I decided that I wanted to write and pass legislation. I knew that each city of 45 could only send 2 candidates to the Texas State Senate, so I started campaigning on Sunday night for the Monday morning elections. Campaigning online was definitely an interesting experience, but I learned a lot about networking from my campaign. I ran against 3 other candidates, but my campaigning paid off and I was elected to represent Townes City Nationalists in the Senate!

On the Senate floor, I was appointed as the chairman of the Natural Resource Committee. We made it a point of emphasis to alleviate Texas’ dependence on non-renewable resources, and a majority of the bills our committee presented to the Senate revolved around that idea. As a Senate, we debated issues such as counteracting police brutality, legalizing recreational marijuana use, and other sweeping reforms that were both relevant and valuable. I personally wrote 2 bills (I have attached them at the bottom of this email!) and passed both of them through the Senate. Although they were shot down by the House of Representatives, writing them was a terrific opportunity and it was the best part of Boys State for me.

Unfortunately, as a Senator, I was not allowed to pursue higher office. If I was, I would have run for Lieutenant Governor, but I thought that the experience of writing and debating bills was too appealing to pass up. In my opinion, the elections were subjectively the worst part of the week. To Boys State’s credit, some of the issues with elections were due to the online platform and the lack of human interaction. However, I believe the real issue with the election process at Boys State is the partisanship. The partisan toxicity that was rampant during elections between Nationalists and Federalists seemed to be the ONLY part of Boys State indicative of Texas legislature. In almost all other instances, my fellow statesmen and I worked to transcend party platforms in order to pass helpful policy and effectively represent our constituents.

More than anything, Boys State gave me hope for the future. The political climate that my peers and I are growing up in can be described as divisive at best and the downfall of democracy at worst. The concept of “hating the other side” has been ingrained into American society since her inception, but I feel that my generation will be the one to heal those divides. At Boys State I realized that if one of my Federalist peers and I disagreed, we were more than willing to compromise in order to address issues that directly affect Texans. I learned this week that politics is just controlled compromise, and without being open to give-and-take, nothing gets done. I know it feels at times as if the United States is stuck at a political roadblock, but I learned this week that the roadblock will fail if the power is truly placed in the hands of the constituents. I know I might sound crazy to even fathom that, but it’s the honest and simple truth. 

Overall, the week was an amazing experience. Of course, I would have loved to go to Austin and participate, but the times are trying so I went into it with the mindset of making it the best time that I could. The amount of knowledge I gained this week was life changing, and I would be extremely foolish to forget any of the lessons I learned. As someone who wants to pursue a career in lawmaking and public service, my experience at Boys State was invaluable. I know that if I do ever end up on the floor of the United States’ Senate, I will remember the skills and the camaraderie that Boys State taught me. It’s because of you all that I was able to attend this amazing program, and I just wanted to say thank you again. Thank you so much for believing in me, and I will continue to pursue equality and justice for all with the lessons I learned this week.

With gratitude,

Raj Patel

Cypress Woods High School