Youth governor urges delegates to embrace vulnerability and 'stay in the room'

Nehana Ryan, the 2026 youth governor, urged delegates at the Maryland YMCA Youth and Government State Conference in Annapolis to view the event as a real space for civic practice and to accept the vulnerability that comes with public service.

"Every summer, the blue crab sheds its shell ... For the next 72 hours, it is the most vulnerable thing in the Chesapeake Bay," Ryan said, opening her address with a molting metaphor to illustrate how exposure can lead to growth. "This right now, is the real thing. We write real legislation."

Ryan recounted earlier conference experiences — a bill that died in committee, a flawed funding formula discovered mid‑presentation, and the nerves of speaking in public — to emphasize that repeated mistakes are part of learning. "My first bill died in committee," she said. "My second year I discovered my funding formula was completely wrong while actively standing in front of the entire Senate." She told delegates that staying in the room and persisting when the room pushes back is central to civic development.

The governor tied that personal lesson to civic history and current student action, noting that Maryland's history includes figures who acted before feeling fully prepared and pointing to modern youth activism. "Just this year, students across the country have walked out of their classrooms to protest immigration enforcement," Ryan said, and she cited other recent campus and climate organizing as examples of young people taking civic risks.

Ryan asked first‑year delegates to feel they belong immediately and asked returners to seek experiences that will surprise them. She challenged attendees to set goals beyond whether a bill passes or a mock trial wins and encouraged delegates to form connections across ideological differences.

The joint session ended after the address and the conference moved into its committee and program work, with organizers directing legislature participants to committee rooms and courts‑program participants to remain in the chamber.