Mikayla Tillery's favorite day of the year is Election Day.

“I grew up every holiday talking about who's getting elected,” said Mikayla, 16. “My mom would always take me to watch her vote every year at her church, so that was something that was ingrained in me pretty early.”

Her sophomore youth and government course became a catalyst for her to dive deeper in issues and become involved in politics.

“It's like an addiction, something I really am passionate about,” she said.

The Butler High School junior is traveling to India this summer after she was selected to participate in the Experiment's Leadership Institute program called India: Community Development and Public Health.

“Everything I can do to be involved politically is my goal,” she said.

Mikayla is also one of the student representatives on the Butler Township Board of Commissioners.

This summer, Mikayla will attend Girls State and the Conference on National Affairs for Youth and Government.

When she is not preparing for mock trial events, Mikayla watches reality television shows, such as Big Brother.

When a Seneca Valley student traveled to Africa with the Experiment Leadership program, Mikayla decided to apply for the opportunity.

Mikayla will travel to Washington, D.C., for intensive leadership training to prepare for the trip to a new country.

Next, Mikayla and her group will depart for India's capital, New Delhi, and meet various organizations and non-governmental organizations to learn about public health and sanitation legislation that people push to improve the quality of their lives. They will also learn the country's history and advance their leadership skills and knowledge of global health and its relationship with community development.

One experience that Mikayla is most excited for is the opportunity to live with a host family in a village at the base of Mount Everest during the program.

“Every day wake up and get to see the sunrise over the mountain, that's something I'm really looking forward to,” she said.

In addition to learning a little Hindu, Mikayla hopes to see the legislative process of other countries in action and other people's perspectives.

On a previous out-of-country school trip, Mikayla went to France over her 14th birthday.

There will also be a two-week period when she will have no access to her phone, she said.

After India, she will return to the United States and continue her leadership training in Vermont as she works on a project she will start in Butler.

One idea Mikayla has for a project is to provide equal resources and access to school-age students, she said.

Mikayla said she plans to major in international affairs in college.

Compromising is one lesson she has learned about politics, she said.

“You're never going to write a bill and have it pass exactly how you want it to be,” she said. “I'm really excited to see on a bigger scope in India and how much collaboration is needed internationally to make the progresses we want to see.”

Mikayla's mother, Erin Tillery, said she is proud of her daughter and her hard work to secure the opportunity.

“We are so excited,” Tillery said. “It's so important for the younger generations to see the process and how their choices are able to impact the future generations.”

Although Mikayla has lived in Butler her whole life, she welcomes the coming culture shock despite her worries about not liking the food, she said, laughing.

“As younger people we have so much to offer,” she said. “Looking at the political scope right now, there's a lot of partisan politics and playing for teams, and I think that us, we have such a new perspective and I hope that moving forward we can definitely work on collaboration and bipartisanship and working to create the best and most efficient government.”