Perseverance runs in senior Albert Edney’s core,  never giving up on anything he does.

Over the summer, he attended Missouri Boys State at University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, MO and was intending to run for governor. He did not get elected by his party but he did not let that defeat him. He ran as an independent and won the election. He said he was third write-in candidate to become governor in Missouri Boys State history. Missouri Boys State is  where thousands of boys from all over the state come to not only create a mock government but to gain in understanding of how a real government works.

“My first impression of Albert really came out when we just found out the party’s nomination he was really excited as were we all,” Lt. Governor for Boys State, Saketh Dendi said.

“Then suddenly the counselor told us that there was actually a tie and Albert would have to be in a run off for our parties nomination. What really struck me was how composed and calm he was when he heard the news…. I was really impressed by the composure he showed in the situation.”

Dendi  was impressed with how he kept it together even though he did not get elected the first time around but that didn’t stop him.

“It was a blessing because I actually didn’t get nominated for my party, they chose someone else and I was disappointed. At the same time my friends in my city were encouraging me to run for independent (neither party),” Edney said.

His friends were in full support and from that  moment on he decided he would run as an independent and try again for state governor.

Missouri Boys State is only open to juniors and one can only go one year, so nobody knows what to expect but Edney quickly got into the swing of things and started getting involved early on.

“I started by doing stuff in my city and being chairman of certain things like being apart of the state committee and vice chairman of my city party committee from there I started campaigning; I made posters and hung them up the same night,” Edney said.

Edney was hardworking and dedicated to what he was involved in from the start of the election to end of it.

“Honestly, I wanted to try something new. I wanted to make the most out of my experience there,” Edney said.

“It is a once and a lifetime thing and you only get to go once. I gave it a shot and it paid off.”

There was a state rally the same night; Edney worked in a time crunch to write a speech and be prepared to campaign as an independent.

“I spoke before the other two and that speech was a banger, I killed it. God spoke through me. It was incredible,” Edney said.

Edney’s speech made everyone ecstatic.

“Seeing Albert win governor was pretty exciting for me,” senior Carson Brown said.

“On the night of the candidates speeches, the Supreme Court was on stage for our confirmation speeches. So I decided to walk over and endorse Albert in front of everybody because I really just wanted to see some support from him. And seeing all the crazy amounts of support people had for him that night was just so fun for everyone there.”

Polls were then set up to vote and Edney’s city made a poster as well as made buttons out of Gatorade bottle caps.  After all the hard work and bumps along the road, he won state governor.

Edney will do participate in various activities  throughout the year. He will go to next year’s session,  give a State of the State address, he will preside over the next session, do room checks, pass bills etc.

Even though Edney went through bumps along the way, his work ethic and persistence paid off.