Over this past weekend (Dec 19-20, 2019) I was able to learn and hear major celebrities in the youth movement who came to speak at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, advising on how students should go about becoming active citizens for liberty.
Convention of States had its very own booth showing the original Constitution and displaying the Annotated Constitution. This compared the small pamphlet (the original Constitution our Founding Fathers wrote) to the towering, multi-ream stack that is the modern interpretation of the very same Constitution. The main booth was led by State Director Rich Simo, and I got to meet all the other Convention of States interns.
We received many new student supporters, who will help push our goals for years to come. A display demonstrated the cost of the national debt is more than the cost of a Lamborghini! This visual example drew lots of students.
Manned by COS interns Weston, McKenna, and Whitney, the infamous Lamborghini visually showcased the gross over-spending the federal government conducts. Students hopped into the car alongside to test out the luxury car features.
Attendees mainly stayed at the nearby hotels, meaning students were quite uniquely walking the streets with leaders of the conservative movement. There were many restaurants and shopping plazas for attendees to enjoy if they chose to enjoy the Florida weather.
The Convention of States team along with many other groups, set up booths to spread objectives, handout our action plans, and offer a path to action.
The summit had many speakers ranging from internet sensations such as Ben Shapiro to nationally syndicated talk show host Rush Limbaugh and even politicians such as Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas.
Even President Trump made a surprise appearance, giving a nearly one-hour speech in which he praised the efforts of Turning Point reach into over 1500 Colleges, the goals achieved by America as a whole, and praise for the attendees themselves. The event saw a massive turnout of students from across the nation.
This event served as not only an amazing workshop for young high school and college students, but also as a great way to spark passion by exposing them to a particular interest group they may have not even heard about until the event itself.
One example is Coleman George, a student from North Carolina who identifies as a populist conservative and currently has signed up to be part of COS and a devotee to fighting big government.
Native Floridian Isiah Scott also signed himself to help the COS Florida team. He identifies as a traditionalist conservative.
I personally can't wait to visit 2020's event, and I've already registered to be a part of this amazing experience.
Alexander J. Munguia is a Senior at Center for International Education a Cambridge Associate School, Head of Public Relations for the Miami-Dade Urban Debate Leugue's Youth Council, and Content Writer for Convention of States Florida.
