Sometimes change doesn’t come from the White House or Capitol Hill—it comes from right here, at home. Ashlynn Goldstein, a graduating senior from Naperville Central High School, has been making waves all throughout Illinois with her bill, which has just passed the Education Policy Committee and will be going to the full House floor.
When Ashlynn noticed that women are 27% less likely to receive life-saving CPR from bystanders due to fear and uncertainty, she traced the issue back to CPR manikins. Because students are almost exclusively trained on male models, even those who are certified can hesitate in a real emergency involving a woman. Now, Ashlynn has taken that observation from the classroom to the House floor.
House Bill 4788, sponsored by Rep. Maura Hirschauer, will require CPR training in secondary schools to include at least one female manikin for every two male manikins beginning in the 2028–29 school year. It’s a simple change with life-saving implications; it addresses a critical training gap that could determine whether someone on the brink of death receives aid.
But the bill itself is only part of the story.
“I think the biggest thing with this is that we need to not be afraid. We need to not hesitate in the real world,” Ashlynn told me. “As teenagers and young adults, we feel like we can’t really make a change… but this shows that you can truly do something if you set your mind to it.”
She’s right. It’s convenient to believe impact belongs to someone older or more “qualified.” But Ashlynn is only 18, and she’s already sparked discourse across the state.
“[We] can start a conversation,” she said.
At the end of the day, change doesn’t require age or authority; it just requires someone willing to speak up.
