What is the Dionisio Chavez LDZ YLI?
The Dionisio "Dennis" Chavez Lorenzo De Zavala Youth Legislative Session (Or New Mexico LDZ) is a program by the National Hispanic Institute to involve New Mexico students in government and build their leadership skills.
In this weeklong program, students stay in the UNM Main Campus dorms and participate in a mock government. Students are divided into senators, representatives, governor and vice governor, justices, and the governors cabinet.
Each group of students has a different role to play in government as members of their respective parts of government, and the result is that students create parties, run for government, and eventually, pass student designed legislation.
The New Mexico LDZ challenges students to reflect on their communities and create opportunities that are self sufficient within the community, rather than create a short term solution for an issue which relies on outside support. The LDZ has students dive into what their communities have to offer and how they can utilize that to create a future for their community that they want to see.
My experience in the NM LDZ
I ran and received the position of Senator in the 2023 New Mexico LDZ. As a part of my role, I created two pieces of legislature, both focused on getting youth involved in the local community and local job opportunities by utilizing the internship system used at my school. Neither made it to the governor, but I did enjoy designing and amending my legislation.
As a Senator, I was also part of one of the review committees and worked with my fellow committee members to review other senators' and representatives' legislation. We found the most promising legislation, brought it to the floor and suggested amendments, and hopefully, got the legislation passed. If not, we sent the legislation back to the author for improvement.
At the end of the NM LDZ, I was awarded the Best Debater in the senate award by my fellow LDZ participants.