Most Americans never get the chance to see how their government operates. However, this past term junior Will Rodenberg experienced the federal government firsthand when he worked as a page for five months in the House of Representatives in Washington D.C., along with 57 other students from across the nation who applied through their respective representatives’ offices.

     "A lot of what goes on in the House requires a lot of people to make it work," Rodenberg said. "I worked as a page, and I basically helped out with legislative duties. Pages usually take calls, deliver drafts for bills, and just keep making it function."

     Rodenberg has always been interested in politics, and found out about the program through his dad.

     "I applied through my representative, Frank Wolf's office," Rodenberg said. "My dad told me about it, and he said it would be a great way to start getting into politics. You’ve got to start somewhere!"

     In the program, Rodenberg stuck to a similar schedule day by day.

     "We woke up at around 5:30 every day, and had breakfast in the residence hall, a couple blocks away from the Capitol," Rodenberg said. "We went to school at the Library of Congress, and the range in length of each school day depended on when Congress met. Our longest school day was from about 6:45 to 11:30. The education was really great, and the teachers were excellent."

     After they finished their studies for the day, Rodenberg and the other pages reported to the House.

     "We'd either walk through the underground tunnels to the Capitol building or the streets. We'd go through the basement and put our backpacks and things in this place called the ‘page cage,’ which is sort of like a locker room. After that, we'd report to the House floor, the place where basically all the laws get passed, and where Obama gave his State of the Union address. We’d sign in at 11:30 each day and go directly to lunch, at one of three different cafeterias in three government buildings. We were given $20 a day to spend on food, so that was pretty cool."

     With lunch done, the pages got down to business.

     "After lunch we went back to the House floor and started working," Rodenberg said. "Sometimes we were given specific jobs to do or just told to take any calls that came in. We had different pages for different jobs; a statement page, a votes page, a runner page, and things like that. My favorite job was being a statement page, because I got to sit 20 feet from a congressman while he made a speech, and when he was done, I could walk up to him and ask him about what he just said. I got to do that about once or twice every week."

     Once the pages were done for the day, they ate dinner in the ‘slopshop,’ and then went back to the residence hall to hang out in their dorms. Occasionally, Rodenberg visited places like Georgetown and Chinatown, went to the movies, or attended festivals. Rodenberg enjoyed bonding with the other pages.

     "I made a lot of friends there," Rodenberg said. "There so many different people. There were kids from California, the Midwest - there was one kid from Guam. The diversity was just so great. I've heard every single viewpoint I think I could ever hear about politics.

     Rodenberg reflected on some of history-making moments he witnessed.

     "I was there when they censured Congressman Rangel, and a day after the Republicans took the majority in the House. It was awesome. I was also there the day after Congresswoman Giffords was shot, and it was mostly House representatives making tributes to her for around four hours,” Rodenberg said. “I was also there when Nancy Pelosi gave the gavel to John Boehner as the new speaker of the House, and I took a record for all those days. I think I'm going to frame them."

     Overall, Rodenberg’s experience helped prepare him for his future ambition of running for public office in the state. He plans to run for class president for his senior year.

     "This was the best step I could've taken," Rodenberg said. "It was amazing being where it all happens, where laws are passed, and knowing its going to affect someone, and probably affect people globally. It's witnessing the American government work."