Reference Label1.Text As Object

If I pass Label1.Text through a function it treats it as an object and not a string. Which is good.

But when I do something like:

Dim temp As Object = Label1.Text

And then pass it through a function it treats it as a string, which is to be expected. How can I make it so I can set Label1.Text to an object the same way it would if I just passed it through a function.

Edit: Here is specifically what I want to do

Public Sub test()
setIt(Label1.Text, "Test") 'this works
Dim temp As Object = Label1.Text

[Code].....