Martin Luther King Jr. once told us, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." On February 18th of this year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, members of JSA Southeast Territory, as well as non-members from the Tampa area, decided to break the silence and discuss one important issue facing society today: the crisis in Afghanistan. Students from all around Florida joined together to discuss the problem through debates on issues such as the merits of colonization, education in Afghanistan, and the legitimacy of the Karzai government.

With the aid of three incredible speakers who shed some light on the situation, real intellectual solutions to current issues in Afghanistan were created by students within every debate block throughout the day. Brigadier General Zahid Letif Micza, Senior National Representative of Pakistan to the Coalition from the Pakistani Army, spoke to students about Pakistan’s unique position in the War on Terror, while Brigadegeneral Lothar Schmidt, fighter pilot from the German Air Force and Senior National Representative of Germany to the Coalition, talked about Germany’s position in the War on Terror as well as the interesting civil-military relationship in Germany. Finally, Rear Admiral Michael T. Franken of the US Navy, Vice Director of Strategic planning for Central Command, shared personal accounts on the difficulty of fighting in Afghanistan’s harsh environment. All participants in the convention had an extremely rare opportunity of hearing these high ranking officers speak on the war with their own personal perspective and furthermore, asking these officers questions and actually getting them answered.

By the end of the day, students had met some of the most important military figures of the day and obtained far more knowledge on the situation in Afghanistan than they could ever have imagined. They learned what it meant to deal with a crisis in the crisis scenario, practiced their debating, and had the opportunity to voice their opinion on the problems in Afghanistan in various thought talks.  Awareness was spread on the realities of war and even new Southeast JSA chapters were formed of non-JSA students who participated and later decided to join our organization.  It is conventions and experiences like these that inspire and touch high school students more than anything. Thanks to the effort of those in the Southeast Territory who organized the Afghan Convention participants left the convention with priceless information and a sense of accomplishment for not remaining silent and speaking out on the great Afghan crisis our world faces today. As one of the most successful conventions Southeast JSA has seen this year, the Afghan Convention is an event participants will never forget. 

To see a full review of the regional, download the PDF review written by student leaders.