It's pretty hard to find a lasting friendship in a person's life. Being a witness I beg to differ with those who believe that in one week your life can have a positive impact. I went into this very skeptical but eager to explore something new. It was Sunday, July 14, 2015, over five hundred high school seniors and I made the trek to the University of South Carolina. We arrived at the hostel with a huge amount of luggage. I learn that my roommate wasn't from my school. His name was Allan, you'd probably say we were best friends as we talked, laughed and wondered about our lives at home. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The afternoon arrived quite briskly and it was time for evening festivities. Allan and I were assigned by our junior advisor, Hunter, to meet in the atrium conference room for our town meeting. We were shocked to see fifty other young people crowded into the small room, who were as stunned as we were. There we met our senior advisor MaCnail, originally from Orangeburg, and our other junior advisor Zane. We quickly learned that Boys State was divided into nineteen different cities and within those cities you would live and share with those boys for the entire week. The town names were quite unusual and difficult to pronounce, but they were actual places or sites throughout the state of South Carolina. Some of these included Enoree, Saluda, Ashley, Waccamaw, Keowee, and my town Tugaloo. We said hello and shared as we ate pizza, but that comfort barrier hadn't yet been broken. After our meeting, it was time for our opening assembly, which would be held each day at the old Carolina Coliseum. We walked everywhere with our cities on two separate lines, which showed the difference between the nationalist and federalist parties. Each citizen, as we called ourselves, was a member of one of the parties and could be recognized by a red nametag with the name "Nat" or a blue one with the word "Fed". From our dorms, it was about a ten minute walk, which was very tiring as it was triple digits for the entire week. Sweat dripped from every part of our bodies, but despite everything, we made it, fortunately without anyone fainting. It felt like entering a technological wonderland, with huge projection screens everywhere, an array of neon lights, flat screen televisions and the best sound system money can buy. We were all excited to finally meet the rest of Boys State and the energy filling the Coliseum was at an all-time high. We stayed there for hours, and most of us fell asleep after the boring but comical lectures of the executive committee. They exclaimed that the experience of the next five days would be etched in our minds forever. Many, including myself, thought it was all a lie, but as the day of departure approached, we longed for it to happen again. As a group effort, each city competed for prizes, including most spirit, best lines and cleanliness. , dormitory cleaning and athletic competitions. Every day we met on a huge open field for what we call rhythmic gymnastics. There we competed in the day's sporting activities as a city. Teamwork played an important role in this and, even though the sun showed no mercy, we worked together as if we were brothers. The animosity between the nineteen,.