Napa High School student Guillermo Llamas earned a chance to test his mettle in the leadership capital of the nation, Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Llamas, 17, who will be a senior next year, spent 10 days in Washington with the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan agency that provides leadership programs to students nominated by educators around the country, and College Board, a nonprofit helping students prepare for college.

Q: What achievements qualified you for this opportunity?

Llamas: I don’t know precisely, but I was nominated by CollegeBoard.com and someone from Napa High, which must have been either a teacher or my counselor.

It would most likely be because I kept my grades at a 4.0 average throughout the whole year, and got a student-of-the-month award in what is known as the Tribal Pride program at Napa High. I was involved in Pink Friday, where hundreds of people and students protested budget cuts that cost teachers their jobs. Aside from my schoolwork, I run for Napa High’s track and cross-country teams as well as being high-spirited in school. I ran for Associated Student Body president and even though I lost, I still wanted to be in leadership and continue to help incoming freshmen adjust to high school. I think it was overall my willingness to pursue education and being involved inside and outside of school.

Q: What parts of your visit to Washington were the most exciting and interesting?

It was my first time ever in Washington, D.C., and it was so exciting! The top sites I loved while I was in Washington were:

• The Lincoln Memorial.

• The Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial was probably one of the most exciting places to visit because I studied it in U.S. history class. Its design was nothing like I imagined, since the rest of the memorials were based on statues and huge pillars like the Lincoln Memorial.

• Capitol Hill, and going inside the Capitol to sit down where the House of Representatives sit and vote! It gave me a very awesome feeling and thoughts of what it is like to be a member of Congress. It was a bummer that we were not allowed to take pictures. Being inside was very inspiring and educational because it showed me how hard it is for the members of Congress to decide an issue in a way that would satisfy the people they represent and still be the right choice.

• I saw President Obama walking near the National Press Club. It was one of the highlights of my trip to see him walking and wowing people and making the people he walked by smile. Even though he was guarded he still showed he is as regular a civilian as everyone else, which to me is very inspirational.

Q: What was the worst part of your trip?

Not having enough sleep. It was hard to go to sleep when you are excited.

Q: What is your career goal?

My career goal is to become a designer and businessman, as well as having another job that includes science, because I love science. My focus is to graduate high school and go to a UC (college).

Q: Were your goals for the future influenced by your trip?

Yes. I learned about politics, and it was very interesting and mind-grabbing to me. Most likely in the future I will study political science.

Q: Did you pass any legislation in Washington?

In the program we did several simulations, such as If I Were President, where we played the media, people, president, vice president, etc. Then there was Global Challenge, where we were set up into groups to represent a country and decide the action that would affect Darfur in Africa. There was role playing for the Supreme Court to better understand how the court works. We tested the Constitution using an actual case, Arizona vs. Johnson. The last one was Modeling the Congress, where we were separated into Democrats and Republicans to create bills. I was a Democrat and my fellow Democrats and I passed the Energy Innovation Act of 2009, which was to help the U.S lessen our dependency on foreign oil and form “green jobs” that would soon bring our economy up from this recession. I had a great time engaging myself in these roles.

Q: Where did you get that sharp suit?

My suits were all from the fundraising I did, not only to go to Washington but also to buy the attire we needed to wear on professional days. One of the suits was donated to me from the Casa Pena on Jefferson Street, because the owners of that store supported my educational efforts and achievements.

Q: Did you miss Napa when you were gone?

I missed Napa Valley because of the weather and the smell of the valley. When my friends would bring up my home in a conversation, I would think first of running through the vineyards!

Q: Who would you like to thank?

I would like to thank Grace Family Vineyards for paying my tuition to go, Rep. Mike Thompson’s constituent service representative, Melissa Rodezno, for helping me find methods and people to help raise funds, Casa Pena, Joey’s Bakery, Steve Clerici, Susan Bloch and Igor Kandros, Wells Fargo Bank, and my family. I would like to thank them for the immense support they gave me to go to Washington, D.C.