Higher Education Day was celebrated at the State Capitol on March 31, and Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology students were among the hundreds of young Oklahomans enthusiastically engaging with state leaders on how they can achieve success for themselves and Oklahoma.

OSUIT Director of Student Life Kamie Crawford led a group of students at the Capitol, guiding them as they met with members of the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives.

“It's always great to bring students back to the State Capitol and see some of the things that they don't get to see every day, and so it's a great opportunity for that,” Crawford said.

“In addition, I think it's just great to be able to speak to our representatives and our senators about OSUIT and for the students to share stories about how OSUIT impacts their journey for education and their lives and their livelihood.”

The OSUIT group, which included Information Technologies student Kerem Goldagi, Culinary Arts student Micah Jones, Allied Health Sciences student Ashley Ross and Instrumentation and Automation Engineering student Robert Turner, was among the hundreds of students and administrators from universities and colleges across the state visiting the State Capitol. They walked all six floors of the Capitol, gazing upon grand works of art celebrating Oklahoma’s history, and met with legislators in legislative offices and conference rooms.

The visit concluded in the chamber of the House of Representatives. The students and administrators sat in the House Chamber’s wrap-around balcony, overlooking the House floor, as Gov. Kevin Stitt and other elected officials addressed them about the significance of their presence at the Capitol.

“I love young people coming up to the Capitol. And the fact that you're here learning how laws are made and meeting your aligned officials, I just think that's so important,” Stitt said. “I think it'll plant something in your hearts that for the rest of your life, you'll want to be engaged in your communities, in your state and hopefully your nation. The more you can be engaged, I think that's really, really important.”

The OSUIT crew started the visit shortly after 9 a.m., engaging with Rep. Trish Ranson. The students spoke with Ranson about a range of issues that impact education.

Goldagi expressed his hope that legislators will provide OSUIT funds to purchase state-of-the-art equipment that will help students better prepare for their future careers. Ranson agreed, noting a few of the many job sectors OSUIT trains students to enter, and said such jobs are an invaluable part of Oklahoma’s workforce and must be supported.

Rep. Neil Hays also lauded OSUIT’s career-readiness curriculum while speaking with the group from OSUIT.

“I always say education should find the kids where they're at. Not everybody's going to go to a four-year university. And everybody, once they graduate high school, should be employable, and they should be on a path to long-term success,” Hays said. “Institutions like OSUIT — who's going to teach the trades, who's going to teach those things that you're not going to get with an accounting degree, a finance degree — are invaluable.”

Sen. Jo Anna Dossett met with the OSUIT group and discussed the importance of increasing access to Oklahoma’s Promise, a scholarship that pays qualifying students the cost of their undergraduate tuition.

“A lot of us [in the Legislature] do believe that the smartest investment is in education; it's just summoning that courage to do it. Your physical presence here is a reminder of that,” Dossett said.

Dossett asked the OSUIT students to never stop speaking about the needs of higher education.

“We as legislators need constant reminders about the worth of our investment in higher education. We've not funded higher education as we should for the last … it's been decades now,” she said. “We can't leave higher education behind. That ultimately won't serve anybody's interest.”

Turner is a native of Nyoka, Oklahoma, and travels a lengthy distance to attend OSUIT. He said he hopes legislators will create legislation to lessen travel expenses for students from rural areas.

“I wish there was a way that they could offer more money to OSUIT to kind of help with that, to help me balance that, some more opportunities, maybe scholarships or things of that nature,” Turner said.

Hays also emphasized the need for students to keep their voices alive at the Capitol.

“Silence is complicity. If you want to make a change, you have to speak up. If you want to make a difference, you have to voice your opinion and actually advocate for those things that are most important to you, most important that you want your state to become and or achieve,” Hays said. “You have to have a vision, you have to have a voice, and you have to relay that and get involved. Speak up and advocate for those things that are most meaningful for you.”

Ross said that she and all the students who participated in Higher Education Day share a responsibility.

“Because all the little pieces of what everybody's here for, we ultimately together are the big picture of what the change for our future is going to be,” she said. “So, if we pay attention to everybody that's here as a whole, that's our team for the next generation that we're going to be working with, whether we know them or not. They’re the people we're building our future with.”

Jones takes pride in the skills he learned from his father while working outside on the grill, as well as in his multicultural heritage. He traveled to the Capitol to proudly represent his heritage.

“I just wanted to show people that being a young black man and being native (Seminole Creek), that anything is possible, and that if you keep looking forward and get a good head on your shoulders, that, as I said, anything is possible,” Jones said. “Just keep moving forward.”

Goldagi, a native of Turkey, has been in the U.S. for 13 years. He said OSUIT gave him a lifeline, a purpose and a wealth of opportunities.