By; Nettie Comerford
Jackie Galvan, a junior at the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, Texas, enjoys running and playing volleyball. Galvan also loves her dogs, “I like playing with my dogs, they are the best thing that has happened in my life. There names are Memphis and Petry, they’re Chihuahua Mixes,” Galvan said.
Galvan is very involved in her academics, especially in competitions like Youth and Government. “I’ve been doing Youth and Government for two years now. I like that I get to meet new people every time. I get to make new friends and make new relationships. It’s really great to see faces I saw in previous years,” Galvan said.
Although Galvan enjoys the competition she is unsure of whether or not government work is something she is interested in professionally. “I wasn’t too fancy of it at first but I’m starting to like it a little more. It’s pretty debatable to me, I’ll see what life gives me,” Galvan said.
Each year Galvan has participated as a delegate in State of Affairs. “I’m in State of Affairs, which means that we take an issue that is happening in Texas right now and we try to make a proposal as to how we as students are going to fix it,” Galvan said. This year Galvan participated within a group. “This year me and my partner Savannah Gonzales worked on trying to figure out how to fix the campus carry law that has been passed in August. It’s the one thing that has happened recently that has changed how I think about safety and how we protect our schools. Campus carry is very interesting to me, and I really like debating about this topic,” Galvan said. Galvan is worried about attending a campus that allows open carry. “I’m honestly scared to go to a university where there are no clear regulations for people who are going to be older than 21. My safety is important to me and I thought sharing my opinions with others could make a difference and this is a topic that has affected a lot of lives,” Galvan said.
Galvan was very excited to take a break from work to enjoy a night with her friends at the social event. “I’m really hoping to make new friends and also get to hang out with my friends from school.”