I was accepted into the second summer session of the Senate Page Program about a month ago through Schumer. I’m currently a sophomore living in NYC. I was wondering if anybody had suggestions or helpful tips for me going into the program and throughout.
Thanks!
I’ve also been admitted to the second summer session, I’ll PM you.
Congrats! I was a Summer Senate Page last year (second session as well) and it is the best experience I have ever had. Before you go I would recommend to start learning the Senator’s names and faces since you will be tested on it during your first week. Start with the party you will be working for first, before moving to the other party. You don’t have to have everything fully memorized, but I would suggest starting to learn. You will be given flashcards of all 100 senators on your first day. I would also recommend bringing some sort of device to have music (laptop or ipod) so that you can listen to music either with headphones, or to get ready in the morning. Whatever it is I would suggest bringing some sort of music device. I brought my old iPod touch and it was perfect to use as an alarm clock in the mornings, to listen to music at night and to check on social media when going out to union station.
All rooms come with their own bathroom. Guys are 4 people per room with a single bathroom (sink, shower, toilet there is a lot of room). For girls there is one 4 person room with a single bathroom and the rest are 6 person with a double bathroom (same setup as singles but 2 of everything). If needed I would suggest bringing a small mirror to get ready in the morning (makeup, hair gel) as there are mirrors in the room, but it is difficult to share a few mirrors with quite a few people. Also be sure to bring outfits for the weekends and also for the evenings (you will have time to go out most nights after session ends).
The kitchen is always stocked with food, so don’t worry about having to bring anything. There is a small market right down the street if you need anything. At the end of your stay there is a goodwill basket down the street so that you can donate anything you don’t want to bring back with you. The mattresses are very comfortable so don’t worry about bringing an extra pad since they are much better than your average college dorm mattress. I would suggest bringing a small blanket to use during movie nights or on warm days when you only want a small blanket. The residence house is very well air conditioned so heat or feeling warm while at the house shouldn’t be a worry.
Please let me know if you have anymore questions! I am very happy to answer them
In the acceptance packet, they warn us heavily about disciplinary infractions. How strict is the program actually? What the actual consequences and what reasonably can you say/do? How much free time did you have? Do we get weekends/Sundays off, and if so, how much freedom do we actually get?
And also, since you did this last year, what effect do you think a pageship actually has on college admissions? Is it a significant plus?
I believe that being a Senate Page is the best experience I have ever been given. I don’t know about how it helped me getting into college, but it looks amazing on resumes and that you have experience if you want to continue a career in politics. You have weekends off to explore DC, although most weekend evenings you will be doing a fun activity as a group (they are actually fun you go monumenting and a baseball game and such). Some weeknights you will be working until whenever the Senate adjourns, and on other nights you will leave at 6pm and you will be able to walk around or go out to eat.
There is some strictness about leaving the page residence; there is a curfew, you can’t travel alone etc but nothing that made anything seem not fun. The proctors are really nice and are there to make sure you have the best experience in the safest manner possible. For disciplinary infractions they are kind of strict, but it’s nothing to bad. There are room checks everyday and if your room isn’t clean (bed isn’t made, things left on the floor) then you will get a minor infraction such as having to do an extra chore around the house. The proctors will go over all of the rules on the first day, so there won’t be any surprises throughout your stay. So the program is quite strict, but it was still one of the best 3 weeks of my life.
The experience you get as a Page is unbeatable and i do think that it has helped me get into college (along with the other activities i have done). Once again if you have any more questions feel free to ask!
I am also very interested in the summer page program. Those of you who have gone: how many of your peers had connections? I don’t have any and I’m trying to calculate my chances.