To The American Legion Department of Michigan,

  My name is Ian Magenta and I had the privilege of participating in  Michigan Boys State this year. This program has changed my life. It has allowed me to establish lifelong friendships, learn from some of the best counselors, and allowed me to meet some very honorable American Legion Members. I have also been selected as one of two principle delegates from the state of Michigan to attend Boys Nation.  I am writing this e-mail to personally thank the American Legion for this program. I would also like to thank the staff, both volunteers and American Legion members, for their work at  Boys State  this year. It was an honor to meet them and I hope they continue to help run this program in the future. Please send them my regards.

  Sincerely,

Dear Legionnaires:

I would first like to express my sincerest thanks to you for your Boys State program. I recently completed the 2009 Boys State program and never knew how close people could get in such a short amount of time. I have friends who will remain with me far into the future. I would like to thank you for such a great opportunity to make friends.

Also, I would let you know that your program is a GREAT program. I had so much fun learning about the various levels of government, writing bills, lobbying, and writing for The Whirligig News. This was really a great experience.

I would like to let you know that my favorite part of the program was on the last night - Warm &, Fuzzy. I felt that this part of the program drew our city as close as humanly possible without physically becoming one body. Many hugs, tears, smiles, and lots of laughter made the city closer than I ever thought possible. We are now truly brothers in one family. We now have a deep mutual respect and sense of compassion for each and every person in our city. Thank you for a second family.

It would not be right for me to talk about family without mentioning our ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE counselor, Inam Kang. This man surprised all of us on Sunday when he said he was only seventeen years old. We thought he was at least 22! Inam is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He made sure that each and every person at Boys State had fun, learned about government, and interacted with the entire Boys State. You do not know how truly fortunate you are to have such a great man working for you. He said that the reason he came back as a counselor was "to change lives". I must say that he certainly accomplished his goal many times over, and I know he will continue to do so for many years to come.

Although I may not run for public office, and may not participate in a political campaign, I will certainly exercise my legal right and vote (when I'm able to, of course). I will apply what I learned at Boys State to the rest of my life. I have learned that "what I put into [life] is what I will get out of it." I will put my all into life, and try to get everything I can out of it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting a program so awesome as Boys State. Please keep up the great work.

I have signed up to be a counselor for Boys State 2010. I hope you will allow me the chance to change lives just like Inam changed mine.

Sincerely,

Michael B. Adams, Boys State 2009, City of Adams Lobbyist, Whirligig