You know how when you start something awesome, and all you can think about how everything is going to be but you never think it's going to end until the moment you're saying goodbye? That's how this week feels. I mean it's only Wednesday and our final day is Saturday, but that isn't a long time. It feels like just yesterday I was sitting in the Senate Chamber with complete strangers and now we're all like a family. Sure we aren't perfect, and at times we don't want to be around each other, but in the end, we all care about each other. When I got the acceptance letter for the Page Program, all I could think about was what would my roommate be like, would I like the Page Program, what would the people be like, what would it be like having all these rules and so on, and so on. Well, my roommate is amazing, on a bad day she can make me smile and I know she's always there for me, the Page Program is the best thing in the world. I will never forget what it has been like to be here. Everyone in the program and all the staff I have met are wonderful. I've made so many new friends that it makes saying goodbye even harder, and as for all the grownups that have patiently shown us how to do each job; I will never be able to thank them enough. All the Senators I have met have been nothing but nice and welcoming. They make you feel right at home. As for the rules, I've learned that even though you make think they're pointless, rules are created to keep you safe.
Monday night we had a mock session, where we got to pretend to be senators and have the senators act as our pages. That was really fun, I even got to talk! (Secretly, I just wanted to use the microphone) Tuesday night we went to VCU and cheered on the Senate as they played against The House in a basketball game to raise awareness for cancer. Although the Senate didn't win, it was still fun to cheer everyone on. Tonight all House and Senate pages went to the Governors mansion for dinner and dessert. Not only did we get to mingle with each other, but we all got to take a picture with the governor!
When you say you're going somewhere for seven weeks, that sounds like a long time, but I feel like it was just a second ago I was at orientation. Richmond has become a home away from home for me. I'm going to miss the simple things, like the walk to work and familiar faces, to getting to go to Starbucks every morning and having the people at the Capitol cafeteria knowing exactly what I want for lunch. As much as I want to come home and go back to normal life, if I was given the choice to stay here in Richmond I'd stay here in a heart beat.
No comments:
Post a Comment