Alliyah Regala, a senior at EJ King Middle High School on Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, poses with Principal Jennifer Gamble and Vice Principal Catherine Mince after being selected for this year's U.S. Senate Youth Program. (Alliyah Regala)
Alliyah Regala has acquired a list of accomplishments that qualified her for a place in the U.S. Senate Youth Program when it meets in the nation’s capital the first week of March.
A senior at EJ King Middle High School at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, Regala is president of the student council, secretary of the National Honor Society chapter and administrative officer for the school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
Despite that, she was hesitant to apply for the competitive, merit-based program. Only 104 students — two from each state, the District of Columbia and the Defense Department Education Activity — are chosen.
Hotel and transportation expenses are paid for by The Hearst Foundations, and each delegate is awarded a $10,000 scholarship for undergraduate studies.
“Sasebo is pretty small, and the opportunities are a lot more limited,” she said in a recent phone interview. “I was kind of intimidated about going through with it, but it was my mom who pushed me to actually go through and finish up the application.”
Regala and Emily Wheeler, a junior at Stuttgart High School in Germany, will represent DODEA schools when the Senate Youth Program meets March 1-8. They’ll hear policy addresses by U.S. senators, Cabinet members and officials from the Departments of State and Defense.
They may also get a chance to meet with the president and a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
To qualify to apply for the program, high school juniors and seniors must show leadership in elected or appointed positions that relate to government, public affairs, history or community service.
The selection process is lengthy. The students wrote essays, answered questions, submitted a video resume, took tests on the government and elected officials, and participated in a remote interview, Regala said.
Moderators look at an applicant’s knowledge, character and composure while discussing controversial topics.
“They asked me questions that were a little heavier because it was Election Day when I did my interview,” she said. “They asked questions about the election and controversial political topics, and I was just honest.”
The chosen students are given the opportunity to interact and network with one another through online group chats.
“I definitely got to understand the difference between the DODEA and the American students. I feel like in DODEA we’re a little bit sheltered in a way,” Regala said. “Not many of us understand what’s going on in America because we’re overseas, so at first I was a little intimidated when I met all these kids.”
