Floor nine counselor profiles

Story by Tessa Stevens

Nicole Forbes

As delegates first arrived at the city of Fillmore, they were greeted with a cheerful smile by Middle Counselor Nicole Forbes.  Nicole choose to become a counselor to continue the legacy of great counselors since she had when she came to Girls State. She confessed to being super excited when she was accepted as a counselor and had so much fun the first time that she came back for a second year.  

Forbes attended Girls State in 2013.  While at Girls State, she was elected Mayor of her floor.  At Girls State that year, all of the Mayors participated in scavenger hunts on their floors where they had to find crazy stuff such as a pink shirt or a boa.  The best part was the Mayors had to wear all of it, then they met downstairs where there was a vote on the best dressed Mayor.  Additionally, her floor did not have many of the clothing items, so they made them out of paper, including purple paper pants that Forbes had to wear.

Out of all the cereals, Forbes felt she would probably be Lucky Charms. She said that she sometimes feels average, but then she “has a marshmallow day”, where something special or fun randomly happens. Furthermore, if she could choose any animal species to be able to talk to, she would choose ducks. She says she is obsessed with ducks and thinks they are cute. Forbes even has a collection of about 30 stuffed ducks.  In fact, for one of her Senior pictures she was photographed lying in a big pile of ducks.

Forbes is currently a rising junior at UNL. Prior to attending UNL, she attended Southern Valley High School, a combined high school, and lived in Beaver City.  Forbes chose to attend UNL after being able to test drive the dorms and dining hall during Girls State. After graduating from UNL, she plans on receiving a Speech Pathology degree. Since that degree requires two years of graduate school, she currently plans on attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney for graduate school.UNK is closer to Forbes’ home and will increase her chances of receiving a job closer to home.  Forbes plans on remaining in Nebraska and being a Speech Pathologist/Therapist in Nebraska schools.  Lastly, Forbes’ favorite quote is, “live life to the fullest!”   

Sarah Ann Prewett

Counselor Sarah Ann Prewett is no rookie to serving as a counselor. Prewett is currently the Senior Counselor for Fillmore and is serving in her fourth year as a counselor. She is the ideal candidate to serve as a counselor and surrogate mother to the delegates. Ironically enough, Prewett actually is a mother to a one-year-old son named Ryan Jay. Prewett agreed to become a counselor because she feels that the week at Girls State is really important to learn about government and is a lot of fun.  

In 2008, Prewett was a delegate at Girls State where she served on the judicial branch. While Prewett was attending Girls State there was a tornado drill during the band and choir concert (instead of a gas leak evacuation).  As a result, they were never able to finish the concert.  However, her favorite memory at Girls State was as a counselor. During the last night of Girls State the delegates had a talent show which they were super enthusiastic about. They made comedy routines, sang and danced. According to Prewett the talent show was very entertaining and just so much fun.

If Prewett were any cereal, she would want to be Mini Wheats since it is her favorite cereal. Prewett claims that it is healthy for you, but it is also sweet. Additionally, when asked which animal species she would most like to talk to, Prewett was torn between two animals: elephants and cats. She would want to talk to elephants since they are her favorite animal. If she were ever able to touch an elephant she confessed she would sob tears of happiness.  However, she would also like to talk to cats, but she is not sure they would want to talk to humans since cats see them do the craziest things.

Prewett graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a Social Studies teaching degree for high school students. Before that, she attended Oakland-Craig High School, located in Oakland. Currently, she is busy saving lives working for the police department. She answers 911 calls, but she spends most of her time running a radio channel for the officers. Prewett normally checks the backgrounds of people who have been pulled over or are involved in a disturbance. However, her dream job would have to be a ghost hunter so she could visit houses with ghosts and try to talk the spirits into coming out.  Lastly, her favorite quote is “life goes on”, no matter what happens, time will continue and things will get better with time.

Carlin Daharsh

Charismatic and witty counselor Carlin Daharsh easily lives up to her namesake, George Carlin, a famous American comedian. Furthermore, she is easily recognizable as the counselor with a certain sparkle to her smile. Daharsh hails from Gothenburg High School, located in, you guessed it, Gothenburg. She is currently working as a Junior Counselor for the city of Fillmore and is very excited about her first year as a counselor. Daharsh grew so much as a delegate and felt that was the best way that she could give back to the American Legion Auxiliary was to be a counselor.

Daharsh attended Girls State as a delegate in 2013. She was elected as the Secretary of State at Girls State and then went on to become a Senator at Girls Nation. Her favorite memory from Girls State was everything to do with campaigning. She even had a “posse” that would stay up with her until 3:00 a.m. every night working on posters. The delegates in the “posse” were able to devote all of their free time to working on posters and stickers since they had previously ran for city offices.

Daharsh admitted that if she were a cereal she would likely be Frosted Mini Wheats because she is always prepared and ready to start the day. Furthermore, if she could talk to any animal species, she would choose to talk to dogs. That way she could learn how to be as forgiving and loyal and compassionate as dogs are because cats are not. Although, she confessed she is totally a cat person.

Daharsh is currently a rising Sophomore at Nebraska Wesleyan.  She is planning on majoring in Spanish and Political Communications with minors in Gender Studies and French.  She would “love to be a Press Secretary for a President or their Speech Writer as a Communications Director”.  Lastly, Daharsh’s favorite quote is “it’s a bad day, not a bad life”.  Pursuing one’s dream job can be extremely difficult and “there’s going to be bad days”, but it is important to remember that a single day does not decide the rest of one’s life.