“Leadership is an individual thing, but the best way to do it for yourself is to be authentic,” says Zaydan Lalani, a rising senior at Moorestown Friends School elected the 79th governor of the American Legion Jersey Boys State last month.
Zaydan Lalani, a rising senior at Moorestown Friends School, was elected the 79th governor of the American Legion Jersey Boys State (ALJBS) by 800 of his peers at Rider University on June 19.
Since 1946, the ALJBS has been committed to educating the state’s youth about American civics; democratic processes; and the fight to preserve those ideals, according to the program’s website. The ALJBS provides a foundation for understanding self-government, a rational approach toward the solution of public questions and a live faith in the ideals and processes of democracy.
The ALJBS is a learn-by-doing practicum for high-school juniors where learning is gained through lectures, discussions, guest speakers and career seminars. It provides its delegates with a broad understanding of the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship. During the week-long program, delegates participate in a variety of educational and recreational activities and hear inspirational talks from both state and national leaders.
“I was pretty surprised,” Lalani said of his election. “I know I was super happy, and I was excited … Leadership is an individual thing, but the best way to do it for yourself is to be authentic. The biggest thing is helping others find who they are as leaders and helping them become leaders in their own right … Because everybody is unique and everyone leads in their own style.”
Following his election, Lalani assigned appointed positions to others and participated in legislative sessions, among other things. He and members of his cabinet had the task of deciding what bills to sign into law, measures sent to them by the program’s state assembly and state senate. But the cool part about that, he said, is that the bills could make it to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy.
“Obviously he’s not signing them into law,” Lalani acknowledged, “but he gets a view of, ‘This is what the kids were thinking of.’”
Lalani, also a member of the Model UN program at Moorestown Friends, described the ALJBS as a great experience and he plans to continue to advocate for the program because he believes that it benefits all individuals by bringing together students studying different fields who can learn from one another.
“Even if you’re not interested in policy or anything to do with leadership,” he explained, “there were a lot of STEM students there that I met that had a lot of fun … No matter what you’re interested in, I think it’s a great experience to be put in that kind of space for a week with kids that are high-achieving and are interested in the things that they learn.”
