Marshal Hill applied for an internship as a page under Wyoming's Sen. Michael Enzi, because it was the opportunity of a lifetime. "I did not want to pass it up," Hill said.
Hill knew the opportunity would not come his way again, and that working as a page in Congress would look good on his resume and would give him an advantage on his application for college.
"I was proud to have Marshal serve as a Senate page," Sen. Enzi said. "He represented Wyoming well and is now part of our nation's history. I know it was an experience he will carry with him for the rest of his life."
Going to Washington D.C. for five months last fall, Hill had no idea what he was going to face. "I was trying to prepare for the best and I expecting the worst," Hill said.
"I knew school was going to be hard," Hill said, "but it was a lot harder that I thought it was going to be.
Hill said he learned a lot about how the United States Government works and how it doesn't work. He was afforded the opportunity to talk with Sen. Enzi a lot. "He was probably the nicest Senator there," Hill said of Enzi.
Hill said he liked how Enzi did not treat him like a "kid", but like an employee. Hill said Enzi hosted pizza dinners for the pages.
Enzi appointed Hill for the page position. Students apply and then one person is chosen from the group who apply.
Most senators only have one page, Hill said, although Majority Leader Harry Reid had four or five pages and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had more than one page.
Hill returned with an inside view that very few young people his age have an opportunity to experience - how the Senate really operates.
Hill said that he likes how the government is set up for an ever changing country. "I also like how it has its deep roots that they try not to stray from," Hill said.
"We have strayed away from some of the roots," Hill said. Hill referred to "the nuclear option", which changed a rule about the filibuster. Hill said the senators adopted a rule that a filibuster can be stopped by a majority vote.
The rule, adopted in 1917, allowed the Senate to end a debate with a two-thirds vote. The filibuster was used to delay or block legislative action. In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required to end a debate to three-fifths.
Hill said that the filibuster is the only way minority parties in the Senate can stand up for their state.
"Without the filibuster, those people are not represented," Hill said.
Hill said he had no ideal how long the hours were going to be. The Senate would meet at 9:45 a.m. and usually ending at 6 p.m., Sometimes they would meet longer and for several days in a row - Hill called them marathon sessions.
When the Senate had their marathon sessions, the pages would work shifts, with some working midnight to 5 a.m. and then another shift from 5 a.m. to midnight.
School starts at 6 a.m. and if a students wants time to meet with a teacher, he needs to be in the eat at 5:30 a.m., in order to be in the classroom before class started.
It makes for a long day, Hill said.
If the Senate convened at 8 a.m., then the page would not go to school that day.
The pages' duties included setting up the Senate floor and laying down the "dailies" out for the Senate.
A daily included the congressional record, executive calendar and calendar of business for each Senators desk. A page also pulls the current bill and places is on the Senators' desks.
Republic pages took care of the republican senators and the democratic pages took care of the democratic senators, Hill said.
After setting up for the day, Hill said it becomes a waiting game. The pages know what the day is doing to be like depending on the the bills that are on the floor. During votes, all pages have to be on the floor. The pages open the doors for the Senators and are also responsible for setting up a Senator which includes bringing water, setting up the podium, sometimes an easel and staff chairs.
Hill said he did have an idea of how the Senate worked from his trip with Close Up. Close Up Washington D.C. is a non-profit organization that organizes programs for students in middle and high school to observe Congress. According to their website, Close Up's mission is to encourage a more active and informed citizenship.
Hill traveled to Washington D.C. last spring for Close Up.
Incidentally, on his trip to Washington D.C. last spring, Hill pointed to a page and told his best friend Andrew, "I am going to be that kid one day." Hill said he was joking, because at that time, he didn't know what a page was or what he did.
Hill worked with 29 pages. School was worked around the Senate schedule, which is way they were in school at 6 a.m., Hill said.
Three of the students didn't graduate from the program, Hill said.
Part of the program includes a discipline factor which included a merit system.
Hill said their bed had to be made, no spit in the sink, no soap in the shower, nothing on the beds. no closets open, no overflowing waste baskets, towels were to be on the hangers, to name a few.
A student gets a demerit for failing to follow the rules and if one gets 10 demerits, he or she are on room restriction, which means they have to be in his/her room by 7 p.m., including weekends, Hill said.
Fifteen demerits means a room restriction of 5 p.m., and 20-30 demerits and the student is removed from the program.
Hill said school was a lot more intense with a three-to-four hour school session. In one semester the class worked through three quarters of the math book. The class was taught by a math teacher who taught at Thomas Jefferson, which is the number one school in the nation, according to Hill.
With the intense school program, Hill found himself working a lot harder in school than he had in the past. Failing a class meant he would be removed from the program, and Hill admits there were some days he would have gladly gone home.
Most of the students were enrolled in AP (Advanced Placement) courses at home and in turn AP classes were taught to the students enrolled in the page program.
"I wasn't very happy during the program," Hill said, "But I am the happiest I have ever been, because of what I learned about myself there."
Hill found himself in with a group of young people who have been working and planning to be a part of the program for four years.
Hill said he would recommend the page program because he learned a lot about himself and has become more independent.
Hill said if anyone in the area has the opportunity to be a Senate page, to take it. "They pay you, they give you a high-class education and you will meet people you will never forget ...."
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