A welcome to Girls state: Emily Firman Pieper

By Adeline Smidt

Emily Firman Pieper got the 2016 Girls State session off to an exciting start at the first general assembly Monday night.

Firman Pieper, a resident of Flandreau, attended South Dakota Girls State in 1994 and was elected governor that year.  Today, she stays busy raising three children and running a nonprofit studio for cultural education and the arts.

For the last 10 years, Firman Pieper has been a speaker at South Dakota Girls State. On Monday, she presented a warm welcome to this year’s delegates in the Aalfs Auditorium Slagle Hall.

Her energetic talk introduced delegates to the fun and possibilities at Girls State.  She began by telling about her own  experiences when she ran successfully for governor.

Pieper wanted to impress upon the girls that this program is about more than winning elections.

She talked about connecting and making friends.  For years after her time at Girls State, she would run into people she had first met there.

Firman Pieper also stressed the importance of Girls State teaching girls they can make a difference. This is one of the reasons she supports Girls State -— she believes the program gives so many possibilities.

For Firman Pieper, the delegates are not future leaders, but young leaders already working in their communities.

She told the delegates to step outside their comfort zones.

Callie Mickelson, Cleveland, said she appreciated a quote, which Firman Pieper borrowed from Rumi: “I am fire. If you doubt that, bring your hands fourth.”

Jane Benzel, president of the South Dakota American Legion Auxiliary, summed up Firman Pieper’s contribution to Girls State saying it was, “In a word, enthusiasm.”