Cooperatives were built by ordinary people who recognized a need, set aside their differences, and chose to work together to meet it.

Those feelings, which I had supposedly left at home before I took off, began to slowly creep in. I wrestled with whether I truly belonged there. At the start of the week, I had been selected by my fellow Youth Tourists to serve as our Youth Leadership Council (YLC) representative. But was I even worthy of representing North Carolina? Did everyone else know something I didn’t about being a leader? In the moment, leadership felt more like an impossible standard than ample opportunity.

Then someone grabbed my arm.

“Come dance!”

Before I had time to overthink it, I was on the dance floor, surrounded by students from every corner of the country. “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield boomed from the speakers. With a hopeful glance at the delegates around me and an urge to move, all the worry slowly began to fade.

I thought back to when we first journeyed to D.C., when North Carolina’s familiar scenery had given way to Washington’s monuments of ivory and marble, meaningful historical sites and altogether unforgettable experiences. Capitol Hill. Arlington National Cemetery. The National Archives. The dozens and dozens of incredible people from North Carolina that I got the privilege to befriend. Each of these has the capacity to change one’s outlook on life.

Yet the pivotal moment of Youth Tour wasn’t something I saw through a passing glance — it happened in the middle of a dance floor, of all places.

For just a few minutes on that dance floor, nobody cared about titles, speeches, accomplishments, backgrounds, appearances or income. We were kids again, enjoying the company of people who, only days before, had been complete strangers. We were ordinary people united under the same cause, and that was enough.

That, friends, is the spirit of the cooperative model.

Cooperatives weren’t built by people who believed they were extraordinary. They were built by ordinary people who recognized a need, set aside their differences, and chose to work together to meet it.

It was those same principles of authenticity, service and cooperation that ultimately led me to be selected as North Carolina’s YLC representative for 2026–2027. However, that recognition wasn’t the most important thing I brought home from Washington.

The most important lesson was this: Extraordinary things begin when ordinary people decide to put their fears aside and courageously get out together.

I encourage you to get involved with your local electric co-op and apply that very principle. And I encourage eligible youth to apply for the NC Youth Tour — for what could be the journey of a lifetime.