Kyle Hicks, the new senior government affairs analyst at Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, hadn’t always planned to pursue a career in public policy — he wanted to be a teacher.
For Hicks, his career trajectory (perhaps his life trajectory) changed in 2019, when he was sponsored by his co-op, Lancaster-based South Central Power Company, to attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour of Washington, D.C.
More than just a trip
Youth Tour’s origin dates to the 1957 annual meeting of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, where then-Senator Lyndon Johnson shared his vision of “sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents.” Co-ops started sending teens to D.C. that very summer, and since then, electric cooperatives around the country have sponsored more than 100,000 students from their communities to take the weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip.
Hicks decided to apply to take the trip after hearing about the experiences his mom and sister had when they went on Youth Tour in 1994 and 2017, respectively. South Central Power selected him as one of its delegates as he was finishing his junior year at Amanda-Clearcreek High School, and that summer, he boarded a D.C.-bound bus with 30 other Ohio students who had been sponsored by their own co-ops.
They explored all that the capital has to offer,
met with policymakers, and learned about electric cooperatives’ role in the history of the country. The cherry on top: Hicks was elected as Ohio’s representative to the Youth Leadership Council by his fellow delegates, which meant his involvement with co-ops was only
just beginning.
The following February, he traveled to New Orleans (his first-ever flight!) to work alongside 42 other states’ YLC representatives at PowerXchange, the NRECA’s annual national conference. In their support roles, they had the opportunity to meet leaders from cooperatives across the country, and were recognized on the conference’s main stage.
Friendships that will last a lifetime
By the time it was over and they all prepared to head home, Hicks and the other YLC reps knew they’d bonded in a way few others will ever experience. “We stayed up all night until our early flights the next day because we knew we’d probably never be together as a full group again,” he says. “As heartbreaking as it was, it’s a night I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
He says he still talks with his friends from Youth Tour and YLC on a weekly basis, leaning on each other’s expertise, getting advice, and simply cheering one another on from every corner of the country.
Soon after, he enrolled at Ohio State, with a double major in political science and agribusiness and applied economics, but it didn’t take him long to realize he wasn’t ready to be done with the cooperative programs that had given him so much, and served as one of NRECA’s staff assistants for the 2022 Youth Tour. Formerly referred to as “blue shirts” for the royal blue polos they don during the event, the staff assistants work during Youth Tour to ensure delegates have a memorable, seamless trip.
Beyond the blue shirt
Hicks says his exposure to life outside of the small rural town where he grew up had been limited before Youth Tour. But after the experience, he says he evolved from an average high school student to a young person buzzing with excitement for the future.
More profoundly, thanks in part to the dozens of new connections from across the country and experiences that gave him a more diverse outlook on the world and his role in it, he found a new career ambition.
“Before Youth Tour, I wanted to be a teacher,” Hicks says. “That experience gave me the confidence to try
and succeed in a career I knew little about at the
time: politics.”
Hicks has maintained his connections with NRECA, South Central Power, and Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, the statewide association that serves Ohio’s co-ops — and after landing his new job in government affairs at Ohio State, he was quick to reach out to his cooperative peers.
“In the political world, it’s easy to narrow your focus on what you believe is the ‘right way’ and block out viewpoints that differ from yours,” he says. “In those situations, I think about the incredible group of people I was surrounded by during Youth Tour and how we all had different backgrounds and perspectives — none of which was more important than the next. When we’re creating and shaping policies, it’s essential that we work together, not against one another, and consider the needs of others.”
What effect will Youth Tour have on you?
Nearly all of Ohio’s 25 electric cooperatives participate in Youth Tour by sponsoring delegates, which means that students selected will pay nothing out of pocket to attend — all travel, lodging, food, and experiences are fully covered by a delegate’s sponsoring co-op.
This year’s tour will take place June 14 to 20. Those interested are encouraged to visit their local electric cooperative’s website to see if they are accepting Youth Tour applications. Most co-ops’ applications are due between February and March.
What will I see on Youth Tour?
- The U.S. Capitol Building
- Gettysburg Battlefield
- Arlington National Cemetery
- National Archives
- Library of Congress
- The Kennedy Center
- Museums: Natural History, American History, U.S. Holocaust Memorial
- Monuments and memorials: Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, FDR Memorial, MLK Jr. Memorial, 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, WWII Memorial, Washington Monument
