Excuse Marshall Kobylski if he has jet lag this week while attending American Legion Buckeye Boys State.

The Bowling Green High School student spent almost two weeks this month attending leadership camps at the
United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., followed by the United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Md. He arrived home late last week, just in time to pack for Boys State.
The teen said both camps included "lots of physical training and some classes" to give guests a
realistic taste of life there. While he said they were fun, Kobylski added that he could tell he’d grown
as a leader from attending them, an experience which would assist him at BBS.
While the upcoming senior, sponsored by American Legion Post 45, did not know what career he would try
for this week at Boys State, he said he thought his cross country and track experience would help in
whatever he chose because "they give me a focus to apply to everything else I do."
Excuse Wakanene Kamau if he has dirt under his fingernails while attending BBS. As president of
Perrysburg High School’s Environmental Club, he spent the day before the start of BBS doing some weeding
around the student entrance by himself.
The 16-year-old is an upcoming senior at PHS and sponsored by American Legion Post 28 in Perrysburg.
Kamau’s leadership at the school is extensive, being president not only of the Environmental Club but
also of Philosophy Club and of orchestra. In addition, he is vice president of National Honor Society
and secretary of speech and debate.
"I think being a leader in different clubs allows me to work with different sizes of groups,"
Kamau explained. "To work with larger groups in clubs allows me to figure out the leadership style
for how big the group is," as opposed to a different dynamic of leadership for a small group.
Kamau genuinely enjoys the political process. At BBS he hoped to become a delegate to his political
party’s convention and maybe run for party secretary. Once his party’s platform is established, the teen
said maybe he would run for the BBS House of Representatives.
"I’d like working on bills, writing a few of them myself," he said, adding, "I think it’s
interesting to see how the political process works. It shows how people react in different
situations."
Excuse Eastwood High School senior Thomas Edwards if he’s a little pale while he’s at BBS. Active in
People Inc., he donates blood regularly at the group’s blood drives or helps to run them.
The 17-year-old is sponsored by American Legion Post 183 in Pemberville.
In 2010 Edwards was a delegate to the Hugh O’Brien Youth Conference (HOBY) where he was taught how to
apply critical thinking skills to a discussion.
"I learned to appreciate not only my views but the views of other people and to apply both views to
a common goal," he explained. "I want to get the whole story and not just my side."
Edwards said the HOBY program is "all about realizing your potential as an individual and taking
that potential and putting it into a group, finding a different way to do things."
He will perhaps be able to use those skills in the BBS House of Representatives for which he planned to
campaign. He chose the House because he has been especially inspired by Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan whose
speeches in the U.S. House of Representatives have appeared on YouTube.
Edwards said he is looking forward at BBS to "testing what leadership I might have learned from all
my past experiences."