What happened during my last week as a student page?

I headed back to Annapolis to engage in my second week working in the Maryland State Senate as a student page. This week, the weather was considerably nicer, I was considerably busier, and the stress levels were significantly higher.

At the time I visited, there were only three more weeks left before the session ended, meaning that there was a greater sense of urgency to push bills through the system. In addition, I was there during crossover week, meaning that all of the bills that started in the Senate needed to make it through the Senate and over to the House before the week ended, and vice versa, otherwise the bill wouldn’t pass.

The bill books that I mentioned filling during my first week were stuffed, and passing out the huge piles of paper became quite the arm workout. There were also more papers being passed from House members to Senate members, and by the end of the week I had memorized the names of the Senators.

I was also there for an exciting week in terms of the bills being discussed. The Budget for 2014 had reached the Senate, and was being discussed on the Senate floor while I was paging. This meant that at times we would have floor amendments back to back, which means a lot of running up and down the aisles to pass out papers.

In addition, I was able to go to the House hearing committee on the bills relating to marijuana, including legalization and decriminalization bills. I also went to a hearing on the bill to make abortions after 20 weeks illegal. I am pro-life, so to hear the testimonies on both sides of the argument made me emotional, and I was glad that I had the opportunity to attend the hearing.

I continued to make connections with my senators and tried to meet as many people as possible. After we finished our duties in the Senate, I would help the Senate secretaries with whatever else that needed to be completed, relishing every moment I could spend in the areas of the Maryland State House before I would no longer have access.

We found all of our hard work rewarded at the end of the week when Michael Miller, President of the Senate, thanked us, presented us with certificates of accomplishment, and told the senate that we were not only one of the hardest working groups of pages, but also one of the most attractive groups.

A short list of page wisdom:

·         Watching Netflix’s “House of Cards” when you get to your hotel at night really enhances the paging experience

·         If you put too much water in the coffee maker the coffee will be weak

·         Senators like strong coffee

·         Eating a grapefruit without access to a kitchen is virtually impossible

·         The coolest Starbucks in existence is hidden under the Maryland Inn

·         Everyone in Annapolis has a dog

·         There is such a thing as too much fudge

·         You can never take too many pictures of the Annapolis docks

I am incredibly grateful for my experience serving as a Maryland State Student Page, and learned so many things from my experience. I got a firsthand look at how the political process worked, and understand it more fully because I was directly involved. For example, being in charge of the bill books that track the bills as they make their way through the process permanently engrained the process in my head.

I also learned that making connections and meeting new people is perhaps the most important thing that you can do at an internship, besides doing your job and doing it well. Internships are about establishing relationships with people you may not have otherwise gotten to know and learning about what it is you may enjoy doing as a future career. It is even possible that an internship will lead to a job in the future.

The professional atmosphere in which I worked gave me an idea of what I want to do in the future, as this atmosphere ended up being exciting and attractive to me. I like the fact that what I was doing really mattered, even if they seemed like small tasks. Everyone who works in the State House is part of a machine, and every task is important in making that machine function.

Working in the Senate also gave me a newfound respect for the politicians who, though they disagree, are knowledgeable people and are really doing their best to make the best decisions for the people.

I have never seriously considered a career in politics, but after speaking to politicians directly and learning about their jobs, I realized that if I were to achieve a level of education that allowed me to be as knowledgeable as the people representing our state, I could see myself pursuing a similar path.

Though I am still not sure what my future holds, I know that my experience in the Student Page Program has taught me more about the political process, has allowed me to explore new career options, and has given me the first taste of what life as a working professional could be like.

Karly Horn is an A&E Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.