Senator White?”
The pristine room becomes completely silent as I enter, and I pause for a second, afraid I've interrupted a life-or-death debate - and then I realize, no, this is what I'm here for. This is what I'm supposed to do.
I step fully into the Government Operations Committee room of the Vermont State House and close the door with a quiet click behind me, trying to disrupt the now-resumed conversation as little as possible. I pass, almost invisibly, behind another Senator's chair and hand the envelope to Senator Jeanette White.
Then, with a smile and another almost-inaudible click, I'm back outside the committee room and hightailing it down the red carpeted hallways, on my way to deliver another message.
* * *
I had the amazing honor of serving as a legislative page from Jan. 8 to Feb. 15 as one of 30 eighth graders from around the state selected to serve each year in three sessions, each six weeks long, with 10 pages serving in each.
A page's job is to shepherd notes and information among legislators in all areas of the State House and occasionally research current bills or legislative events.
The Page Program was designed many years ago to give young Vermonters a chance to learn about politics in the most hands-on way possible.
Some pages, including me, lived too far away to commute to Montpelier every day, and therefore stayed with a “host family” who had signed up through the Sergeant-at-Arms office. Despite the extended absence from school, we were expected to be done with our homework and have it turned in on time at school, unless otherwise specified.
It had originally been my seventh-grade homeroom teacher's idea for me to apply to be a page. At a parent/teacher/student conference, my mom asked her to keep her eye out for fun things for me to do after school - particularly anything political - because I was getting a little bored.
My teacher actually went online right then and there and began researching. A few minutes later she came away with an application to the Vermont Legislative Page Program.
At first I wasn't so sure about it; to tell the truth, the job looked a little boring. But I decided that it wouldn't hurt to apply. As time went on I became more and more intent on actually becoming a page, until it was one of the only things I wished for. I wanted the opportunity more than almost anything.
* * *
During my tenure as a page I was exposed to many things that the average person never gets to witness.
I got to travel back into the twisting hallways of the State House where the public is not allowed to go to retrieve messages from the aides. I got to witness the nonprofessional side of legislators as they munched on pizza crusts and gulped down root beer.
The inner workings of the State House are incredibly complex and riveting, especially when you get to see them pan out over a long period of time. You can see almost all the adults (aides included) aquiring an extra grey hair or two, and you can experience firsthand the changes there that take place between Before (Blank) Bill Was Enacted Into Law and After (Blank) Bill Was Enacted Into Law.
For the most part the legislators, lobbyists, visitors, and legislative aides work together in harmony, but occasionally a fight begins to brew or two people become equally passionate about opposite sides of an issue.
Said arguments never grew louder than a dull yell, but even so, at times they were uncomfortable to witness. Still, such happenings were always very interesting to watch, especially if you yourself don't have an opinion yet on the subject being disputed. Though the healthy debate didn't change my mind about any of the bills in question, this was one of - if not the - main way that my fellow pages and I learned about the issues funneling through the legislature.
We also learned how to be incredible listeners and how to keep our eyes trained on every inch of the room we were paging. If we heard a pen tapped on a desk or saw a note waved in the air, that was our signal to pop up and grab the piece of paper, then whisk it away to its destined recipent. I've become much more observant.
* * *
The 24 days that I served as a legislative page - four days a week for six weeks - were 24 of the best days of my life. Though I had expected them to be filled with rigid, hard-working people with no time for fun, they were very much filled with laughter.
I hope to remain friends with the nine other pages, all incredible individuals. We all got to see laws come into being two feet from us. We met people we'd never dreamed we could, including the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house.
But most of all, my days as a page were filled with the promise of tomorrow. Since I was exposed to “average, everyday, normal” people who were altering the very fibers of the way our state works, it gave me courage to believe that I, too, will one day be able to do the same.
I have my own hopes and dreams for this incredible state, just waiting to spring to life in the State House.