I recently had the opportunity to attend the Students Inside Albany conference, a program that brings high school students from across New York state to the Capitol to learn about government and public service firsthand. As a 17-year-old high school student who enjoys following politics and public policy, I thought I already had a pretty good understanding of government.
But spending several days inside the Capitol taught me something that no classroom ever could.
Government isn't just laws, elections, and headlines. It's people.
One of the biggest surprises for me was shadowing public officials and being able to sit in on lobbying meetings. I think a lot of teenagers picture elected officials as almost a different species. You see them giving speeches on television or standing behind podiums, and they seem larger than life—almost unapproachable.
Then you actually spend time with them.
You realize they joke with their staff. They laugh. They get coffee. They forget where they're supposed to be next. They're just people trying to do a very difficult job.
That was refreshing.
It didn't make me respect them less—it made me respect them more. Seeing the amount of preparation, the constant meetings, and the number of decisions elected officials and their staff have to make every day made me appreciate how much work goes into public service that most people never see.
It also made government feel much more accessible. If the people making decisions are ordinary people who care about serving their communities, then maybe government isn't something that's "them." Maybe it's something that's all of us.
Another thing I'll never forget was meeting students from all across New York state.
We all came from different communities and had different experiences, and we were all there because we cared enough to spend time learning and talking about government.
Some of us agreed on almost everything.
Some of us... definitely didn't.
But that turned out to be one of the best parts.
The conference reminded me that disagreement isn't a problem. In fact, it's healthy. Democracy depends on people with different experiences listening to one another, asking questions, and trying to understand where someone else is coming from.
I think we could all use a little more of that.
The presentations throughout the week also completely changed how I think about government.
Before the conference, I thought of government as something that stepped in for the "big" issues—passing laws, setting budgets, responding to emergencies.
I left realizing that government quietly touches almost every part of our lives.
The roads we drive on. The water that comes out of our faucets. Public health. Parks. Schools. Consumer protections. Emergency services.
Even many of the things we never think about are working because someone, somewhere, spent years figuring out how to make them work.
It made me realize that good government is often invisible. When everything is working well, most people never notice. But that's exactly the point.
Most importantly, the conference reminded me that civic engagement isn't just about voting every few years. It's about staying informed, asking questions, participating in your community, and recognizing that government isn't something separate from society - it reflects the people who choose to be involved.
As someone who hopes to remain engaged in public life, this experience strengthened my belief that informed citizens are one of the greatest assets any democracy can have.
The Students Inside Albany conference is sponsored by the League of Women Voters, an organization that believes civic education is worth investing in. By bringing students from across New York state to the Capitol, the League helps create opportunities for young people to better understand how government works and how they can participate in it through a variety of presentations done by elected officials, people working in advocacy, and even a former political campaign manager.
The League invested in a generation of young people who left Albany with a greater appreciation for public service, a better understanding of government, and, hopefully, a stronger commitment to being active citizens.
I know the experience changed the way I think about civic engagement.
It reminded me that democracy isn't something we inherit and simply keep. It's something each generation has to learn, participate in, and strengthen.
That's a responsibility I'm grateful to have been given, and one I hope to live up to.
Dylan Mabee, a 17-year-old student at Guilderland High School, has a strong interest in government, public policy, and civic engagement. He recently attended the Students Inside Albany conference, where high school students from across New York state learned about government and public service firsthand.
This commentary was adapted from remarks delivered at the annual meeting of the Albany County Chapter of the League of Women Voters on June 20, 2026.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.