By Journalist Amaya Brooks (OBU)
Lieutenant Governor Minter is in her seventh session and is serving as LG of this session. One of the main jobs of the LG is to organize the activity pass that O.I.L. delegates can purchase on top of their session dues. In interviewing her, LG Minter says, “All the lieutenant governors before have just done an amazing job creating such an awesome activity pass.”
In organizing the activity pass, LG Minter had two goals in mind. For the activity portion of the activity pass, “something that I really tried to do when I knew that I wanted to become the lieutenant governor was listen to senators and representatives on what they were looking for out of the activity pass experience… Brickopolis accommodated a lot of what a lot of people were looking for, meaning outdoor activities, indoor activities, food, and all in one place.”
In addition to this, the other portion of the activity pass is the food and meal side. This has been done differently in the past by different LG’s, but for LG Minter, “one of the things I wanted to do with the activity pass was to provide lots of meals. I know personally that Oklahoma is a very food insecure state. I don’t want that to be an experience for anyone at session. We hope to lift financial burdens for delegates.”
Brickopolis provided both food and activity for delegates. However, Friday night’s event provided more than that. “For the students that didn’t come to last night’s event, I would just really encourage people to try to come to activity pass events. The way that we really develop that family aspect of our relationship is by attending events outside of session and really making those memories together.”
Grace Minter has also served in the O.I.L. House of Representatives as a Representative and as Speaker Pro Tempore. When asked what her advice to any delegates would be, she said, “If I could go back and tell myself as a zero star is to be yourself and that is something that I think is really important is to be yourself in all aspects. When I was a lower star count, I really focused on the competition aspect of O.I.L. Some of the most amazing parts of O.I.L. is you get to compete alongside people, but keep in mind that you’re competing alongside people and not against people.
“You are competing alongside someone and to really keep that in mind because at the end of the day, a best freshman award, a best delegate award, or a best legislation award feels amazing, but what feels even better than receiving one of those amazing awards is to look back ten, fifteen years from now and see the relationships that you’ve built with people that you are competing alongside.”
O.I.L. thanks Lieutenant Governor Minter for her service to O.I.L. this session and looks forward to what she will bring to session next semester.