First self-taught lesson at Girls State: Don't start a speech off with "Hi, my name is Jane Smith and I'm running for Auditor," or anything that sounds even remotely like that. At Girls State, the day starts at 6:30 in the morning and ends at eleven at night - and that's on the good nights. And so the minute your pitch starts off exactly the same as everyone else's, people start dozing off.

Yup, this is it - one of the most prestigious conferences out there - affording its attendees the privilege of rubbing shoulders with the most brilliant, inspiring, and exhausted seniors-to-be in the sta...