SOUTHERN COLORADO — Devin Klock and Jack Clawson said they have big dreams for their futures.
"I've been wanting to be the President of the United States for a while now," said Klock, a senior at Pueblo East High School in Pueblo. “During 2020, when the election happened between Biden and Trump, I really wanted to get involved and put my voice out there and realized youth really should have a voice in this.”
“Eventually it'd be super cool to run for office," said Clawson, a senior at Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs. "If I had to pick one specific moment that was most impactful, it was touring the Capitol last spring break.”
From March 1-8, Clawson and Klock are in Washington DC. There, they are serving as the two delegates representing Colorado in the 63rd Annual Senate Youth program.
The Senate Youth Program selects two students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. All students receive a $10,000 scholarship and take part in a weeklong program where they see how the U.S. Senate functions firsthand.
As part of their applications, both Clawson and Klock had to record videos of themselves pretending to be an elected official. That video gave them the chance to express what issues mattered most to them.
Clawson said his number one issue is the climate.
“Environmental issues first, climate change, conservation, mostly based on my experience volunteering at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo," he said.
While for Klock, his main issue is gun violence prevention.
“I am the group lead of our local students demand action at Pueblo East," he said. "I go to school every day, and sometimes you hear about shootings happening in the news, and you're just you're scared, or you say, what can I do to help?”
Both have aspirations to take part in government, whether it be locally or nationally. Both said they hope this week can help them learn more about how the U.S. government functions.
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