Luke Turner, a junior at SHS, had the great opportunity to participate in the United States Senate Page program. During his time in D.C., he paged for Senator Joe Donnelly and served the Democratic Caucus on the Senate floor. His job included prepping the Chamber, preparing them for speeches, delivering correspondence across the Capital, and just being around to assist the Senators. Since the U.S. Senate is completely analog, it only uses physical writings instead of technology, Luke kept very busy delivering papers across the building.  

While he was there, Luke attended the Page School. He woke up and went to school at 5:30 A.M. The school was located in the basement of the dormitory, that was located on Capitol Hill, that the pages stayed at. At 9:45, the pages would then go to work at the Capitol. Luke explained to me how rigorous the school work was, but since the classes only had 26 students, the pages had a lot of one-on-one work that helped them a lot. The pages got to go on a lot of field trips: Gettysburg, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Army vs. Navy game, Independence Hall, Manhattan, Library of Congress, National Archives, White House, and etc. Luke’s favorite class was United States History.

When I asked Luke what his favorite moment was, he said, “Every time I walked on the blue-carpeted Senate floor and seeing the Senators and the Vice President, I was amazed. The work aspects during my time was definitely my favorite. I did enjoy the dorms too. I met some great people, and some new friends.”

Luke also talked to me about his future. He said, “I’m not sure on exactly what I want to do, but I want to serve the public. My dream is to go law school. I would like to become a civil rights attorney, and defend people who are innocent.” Luke is very passionate about public service, and he knows that’s what he wants to do, in some form, when he gets older.

When I asked Luke how this experience in D.C. will help him with his career at SHS, he told me, “This experience has made me more open to new experiences, difficulties, and challenges. Without this experience, I don’t think I would be quite as ready to try new things. It has taught me how to make new friends, and skills that are needed throughout high school and college.” As you can see, this experience was a great opportunity and learning experience for Luke.