ETSU senior Kyah Powers served as governor of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature, gaining hands-on leadership experience guiding students through a full simulation of state government in Nashville.

When Kyah Powers walked into her first Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature meeting as a first-year student, she wasn’t thinking about one day becoming governor. She was thinking about police officers in Washington County who needed better mental health support.

That focus on real community needs would eventually carry the ETSU senior all the way to the organization’s highest leadership position, while teaching her lessons about governance that goes beyond a classroom setting.  

Powers, a double major in political science and philosophy and recently named a Rhodes Scholarship finalist, served as TISL governor during the organization’s 56th General Assembly earlier this year. In that role, she led more than 400 students from colleges across Tennessee through a full-scale simulation of state government, complete with legislation, debate and the inevitable crises that test any leader.

“The database system went down right when students needed to submit bills and court briefs,” Powers recalled. “There was nothing I could have really done to prevent that, but I was the one getting all the emails and phone calls.”

It’s the kind of pressure-tested experience that defines TISL, a program where students don’t just learn about government. They do the actual work of lawmaking in Tennessee’s Capitol building.

How do ETSU students gain real-world experience?

Powers’ growth through the organization is the perfect example of how students gain real-world experience during their time at ETSU.  

As a first-year student representative, she drafted legislation to improve mental health services for law enforcement, conducting interviews with Washington County officers to understand their needs firsthand. She prepared her arguments, delivered her speech in Nashville and watched as the executive council recognized the importance of her bill enough to advance it for consideration by actual state legislators.

Though her bill never reached the General Assembly due to a miscommunication among the executive council, Powers was not deterred

“That miscommunication helped prompt me to run for a seat on the executive committee myself,” she said. “While my bill didn’t move forward, I was able to advance the bills of about 20 students.”  

The governor’s role demanded something Powers didn’t expect: humility at scale.

“Sometimes, we get high and mighty and we don’t want to listen,” she said. “We think we’ve gone past the stage of listening when we lead. We make a huge mistake when we cross that threshold.”

Why does experiential learning matter at ETSU?

For Joy Fulkerson, director of Leadership and Civic Engagement at ETSU, watching students like Powers navigate these real-world challenges validates the university's investment in experiential learning.

“TISL gives students something they simply cannot get from a textbook and that is the opportunity to lead under pressure, advocate for real issues, and understand that effective governance requires both vision and a willingness to serve others,” Fulkerson said.

Powers said the experience has fundamentally changed how she sees civic participation.  

“The lawmaking process can be hazy. What TISL does really well is expose the steps and clear up the haziness,” she explained. “Now, if I see something in my community that needs to be stopped or improved, I know the tools. That’s a very different experience than just sitting in a classroom and listening to how a bill becomes law.”

This year, ETSU sent 24 students to TISL, with six holding statewide leadership positions. It’s a remarkable showing considering every college in Tennessee can participate. Students, including Milind Chaturvedi, Macy Miller, Amelia Hart, Eliza Smith and Maggie Martin, joined Powers in executive roles, while the delegation earned recognition across legislative, lobbying, moot court and media competitions.

And another ETSU student will serve as TISL governor in 2026, with Chaturvedi taking the gavel Powers just passed.

It’s the kind of continuity that happens when students learn early what Powers discovered.