Exciting Day on the Hill

Today was an awesome day Capitol Hill. My class, poverty, started out by meeting with Drew Colbert from the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. I had to leave early though because I had to cross over from the Dirksen Senate Building to the Cannon House Building. I had a meeting with my Congresswoman at 11 am; unfortunately, Congresswoman Giffords was running very late and I had to reschedule from 2 pm. I left Giffords office at around 11:45 and headed to lunch with a family friend that works on the Hill. We ate at a restaurant that was recently opened by Spike, a contestant on Top Chef.

After lunch, I hung around and just explored the Hill. As I was walking, I saw a big group of people swarming around someone, almost like there was a celebrity. Guess what?! That’s exactly what it was, a celebrity! Richard Simmons to be exact. He had been advocating for more physical and health education in schools in a Congressional Hearing earlier on in the day. After sitting around with some of my friends, I finally went upstairs to Giffords’ office. Upon my arrival, Giffords’ scheduler took me and another person who was visitng Giffords down to an area of the Capitol which you can only reach with a staff member. To be honest, it was pretty awesome; we got to ride the train as well! Giffords’ scheduler took us to the same floor as the voting is conducted, we waited a few minutes for Giffords and finally she arrived! We sat inside a nice lounge and schmoozed for about ten minutes. We then decided to walk outside to take a picture in front of the dome. On our way out, Giffords ran into Arizona Senator Kyl. After having a quick political conversation, Giffords introduced Kyl to us- it was pretty awesome.

Overall, today was a very exciting day. I felt so independent because I knew to navigate myself on the Hill. Being in the center of the Government is an awesome feeling!

-Ariella F, JAM '08
Tuscon, AZ