As a page, high school junior hobnobs with nation’s political leaders.
By: Gwen Runkle
WEST WINDSOR For most teen-agers, summer jobs mean checking out groceries or babysitting a pesky neighbor, but not for Alisha Levine, 17, a junior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South.
On Monday, she returned from Washington, D.C., where for the past four weeks she has been hobnobbing with many of the nation’s political leaders while working as a page at the U.S. Senate.
"It was a great experience," she said. "I got to meet all the senators. I talked with Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) a bunch of times, met Vice President Dick Cheney along with Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).
"They all respected us a lot," she continued. "Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) even talked to us for several hours about his life. It was amazing. He’s about 90 years old. I also met Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the oldest senator, at 99 years old."
As a Senate page, Ali played an important part in the day-to-day operation of the Senate. She and the other 35 pages had to set up the Senate chamber for sessions, deliver correspondence and legislative material throughout Capitol Hill, deliver messages for senators and file bills and amendments.
"You did whatever the senators needed you to do," she said. "Get them water, let them know they had a phone call. I was even the head page, which meant I had to sit by the phone all day. It was pretty busy."
The pages were all high school juniors or seniors and were split up as Democratic or Republican pages.
"I was a Democratic page, serving the Democratic senators, because my sponsor (Robert Torricelli, D-N.J.) was a Democrat," Ali said.
Her typical day started out with an early morning field trip to places like the Library of Congress or Alexandria, Va., before getting to the Capitol to set up the Senate chamber.
During the day, she alternated working for an hour and being off for an hour until the Senate’s session ended, which was usually around 6 p.m. At night and on the weekends, she got to spend time checking out the city and Georgetown University.
"I had a lot of fun," Ali said. "I’ve always liked history and politics."
She first found out about being a page while on a family vacation. "When I was little, I sat in the gallery watching the Senate and saw all these kids in blue suits," she said. "I thought I’d like to do what they were doing."
She applied to become a page in February through the offices of both Sen. Torricelli and Jon Corzine (D-N.J.). She was accepted in May.
"At first I was nervous, because I didn’t really know what to expect," she added. "And when I got down there, I was overwhelmed because you had to learn so much so fast. You had to memorize all of the senators’ faces. They tested you on the second day.
"But overall it was a really good experience," she continued. "I’d love to go to Washington again and be an intern. It was great to see how our government works and feel a part of it."
She also enjoyed getting to know other students from across the nation.
"Most of the kids there were from out West," she said. "Of my three roommates, one was from Indiana, one was from Nebraska and one was from South Carolina. I made a lot of friends I plan to keep in touch with."
For more information on becoming a page for the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives, go to the Web sites www.senate.gov or www.house.gov.