Hello from the Blue Ridge Mountains! Texas YG is thrilled to have kicked off the Conference on National Affairs (CONA) with our delegation of 25 outstanding students. After training in Austin Friday night, the delegation arrived at the beautiful YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in North Carolina on Saturday. Delegates have come to CONA to present their thoughtful proposals describing social problems and outlining solutions on a variety of topics such as outsourcing and job creation, visa allocations, human trafficking, gender-specific healthcare concerns, and prison conditions. They had a chance to share these proposals with other attendees for the first time during Proposal Sharing Groups Saturday night. On Sunday, delegates enjoyed the Opening Ceremony and took part in First Committee Hearings. During each round of Committee Hearings, delegates engage in debate and discuss the pros and cons of their own and other delegates’ proposals, suggesting amendments to proposals as appropriate and following parliamentary procedure throughout. They score one another’s proposals, and a specified number of the highest scoring proposals from each Committee Hearing advance to the next round. All delegates gather on the final day of CONA to discuss the ten highest-ranked proposals in a Plenary Session. First Committee Hearings wrapped up Monday morning, and delegates will participate in Second Committee Hearings Monday afternoon and evening. Texas YG is proud of all our delegates including Michael Brown, Jessie Searles, Sharif Long, and Jordan Clements who have respective conference leadership roles in Proposal Sharing Groups, Committee rounds, Conference Life Committee, and Round Tables. We are also celebrating our delegates whose proposals have advanced to the Second Committee Hearings: Jessie Searles, Dani Smith, Anastasia Sotiropoulos, Noelle Mitchell, Keilan Lewis, Jonathan Forseth, Sharif Long, and Jared Bouloy. Delegates are looking forward to celebrating Independence Day tomorrow with Third Committee Hearings and a special holiday dinner and dance. More to come later this week!