2026 HSLP: Day 8

High School Leaders Program Class of 2026
Day 8: Saturday, July 18
Reported by: Jocelyn Schweitzer and Alisha Kapila

We began the day heading to O-hill for breakfast at 9:00; half of our group was dressed up for the day in
full business attire, while the others indulged in the humor of the simulation and wore oversized shirts and
shorts. Then our group headed over to Clark Library to get our mock senate simulation started. We
began by going over rules and regulations for the simulation, setting boundaries for the senate simulation
that we took part in throughout the day. After rules and regulations were in place, each party was divided
between the Republican and Democratic Party (positions we had been assigned prior to the start of the
program). 

We began our first hour attempting to find order on the democratic side, voting for the Caucus
leader, Majority leader, and Whip. After thirty long minutes and a lot of arguing over votes, our leaders
were put into place. It was a disorganized chaos, efficient, but also not. We can only speak for the
democratic side, as that was the party to which the two of us were assigned. Huff Mullen was elected
Majority leader, Alisha Kapila was elected caucus leader, and Esther Yuan was elected whip. The three of
them worked together well to decide committee chairs and allowed other state senators to choose the
committee they felt they were best suited for. Then the leaders left the room to decide the chairs of each
committee (Government services, redistribution, and regulations) and came back with Huff Mullen
elected as chair of the redistribution committee. Karan Bajaj was elected as committee chair for
regulation, and Callie Sun was elected as committee chair for government services. Each leader split up
among committees, so that they could make sure everything was going accordingly. After all positions
were settled, all committees took a break and grabbed lunch, which was catered by Chick-fil-a. Everyone
grabbed their food and left for their committees and began the tedious process of reviewing bills. Each
committee had a different approach to the processing of bills; the government services committee was
extremely time-oriented and organized, making sure that everything was swift and in order.

On the other side, committees like the redistribution committee were a lot more scattered, letting everyone speak
whenever and creating a bit of chaos with the time aspect of the process. Eventually a one and a half
hours later, we reconvened for a fifteen-minute break, where a few students gathered in a circle and
played with a hackey sack while debriefing on our different committees. The Republicans stayed within
their caucus meeting for part of the break to display their commitment. After the simulation went back
into session, we went into strategizing on how to pass our party's bills. The Democratic Party broke out
into focus groups, working on creating amendments for bills to prioritize the party's interests over the
Republicans. We were making sure to stick to our goals while also remembering there was a Republican
governor who could veto what we passed. Once the simulation began, so did the real chaos, where we
were allowed to see how stressful and fast-paced a real session can be. 

Going through the bills was a strenuous process, but both parties pushed through, attempting compromises, voting with their party,
occasionally not voting with their party, all while getting bills passed. There was a lot of disaccord and
and confusion that we pushed through to make it as efficient as we could. Although at times it was
difficult. Finally, the simulation ended, and we gave our takeaways from the process, most positive, some
negative. After getting back to Echols' house, we took a short break before dinner, where some showered,
and others chatted. Then we headed to O-hill for dinner and conversed. Once back at Echols' house, the
cohort split up, some enjoying their free time, while others worked on their policy project, and then
everyone slowly made their way to their rooms for bed.