After concluding what had been a sad and moving journey through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Colin Gilstrap encountered an unexpected and uplifting moment in that museum's lobby.

Gilstrap joined several other South Carolina high school students hear 87-year old Holocaust survivor Esther Rosenfeld Starobin share her incredible journey of escaping Nazi Germany.

"I've never understood feeling the weight of the world until I went into that building," Gilstrap says. "It was remarkable that (Starobin) lived through such a horrific experience and was still able to tell us about it with some humor."

Gilstrap's once-in-a-lifetime experience was a part of the Washington Youth Tour, an all-expense-paid trip to the nation's capital. The rising senior at Pickens High School was among three local students sponsored by Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative on the trip, including Sara Beth Brock of Easley and DJ Holland of Seneca.

A total of 57 students representing cooperatives across South Carolina spent six days in the nation's capital area visiting historical and educational sites, including George Washington's Mount Vernon, the National Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery.

The National Museum of the Marine Corp was the highlight of Brock's experience because her grandfather was a Marine.

"For people like me to go back and look and reflect upon what all of these great men and women did for our country and for our freedom, it's just really awesome," says Brock. "They put their life on the line for us to be able to live in this free country and they deserve everything and more that the museum provided for them."

In addition to the museums, memorials and monuments, the youth tourists also spent a day at the U.S. Capitol where they toured the complex, visited Congressional offices and met with staff members. Afterwards, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott spent time talking with the students and answering their questions on the Capitol steps.

Throughout the trip, the students participated in Soda Pop Co-op, a student-run market that sold snacks and beverages to their fellow youth tourists. Some students served as co-op board members and management. As member-consumers, the students each received $7 in capital credits, their share of the co-op's end-of-trip margins. The students donated a portion of their capital credits, a total of more than $250, to Kid's Closet, a co-op affiliated outreach program that provides essential items to temporarily homeless youth throughout South Carolina.

South Carolina's youth tourists were not the only student delegates in Washington. They were among more than 1,600 students representing electric cooperatives across the nation. The students traded their state pins with one another and went on a river boat dinner cruise along the Potomac River

"You can talk about Washington in the classroom, but being able to see it for yourself is really awesome," says Brock. "I'm very grateful to Blue Ridge Electric to be able to come and represent my town and my co-op."