Day 12 Second Day On The Hill

Submitted by Annie Yu

Despite feeling anxious for our second round of presentations, we were much more at ease knowing that we (most of us) had gotten through our meetings with our individual representatives and would now be experienced at introducing our legislations. Now on to the committee meetings!

Meeting with NOAA representatives



Beto O'Rourke from Texas meeting with Daven

Each committee had an entirely different role in the government, and were working on unique projects. It was interesting and informative being able to hear about the issues they were addressing, and being given advice about entering government positions on the hill and post-high school opportunities in general. In our meeting with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Jen Li’s proposal on funding solar window research was a hit!  The Committee is presently working on a bill for renewable energy and was impressed with her research and said they might put a provision in their bill. WOW! This made us all realize how much of an impact we really could have with just the work we did in these two weeks. With my Representative potentially cosponsoring the Trash Reduction Act of 2015 that has been sitting in Committee, Jen Li’s proposal for Solar Window Research and Daven meeting with Beto O’Rourke and being offered an unpaid internship in his local El Paso office, we walked away from the day feeling empowered and productive.

In the Botanical Gardens

After our meetings and lunch in the Senate Cafeteria, we visited the Botanical Gardens. It felt so humid at first, and I could feel myself start to excessively perspire as soon as we stepped into the “tropical” room. Despite this, being surrounded by lush green plants, brilliantly colored flowers, and feeling the mist around me made me feel relaxed, despite the heat and humidity.

After dinner in Union Station, we were off to an evening trolley tour. Our driver, M.J. made the ride unforgettable by making jokes, playing songs, and narrating boisterously, filling us up with a bit more energy during the ride. While a majority of the trolley ride consisted of relaxing in our seats, and feeling the evening breeze, we were able to hop off for 15-20 minutes at a few memorable stops and take both individual and group photos, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. Despite being probably the most tiring day of the whole program, the experiences were unforgettable and the memories will be forever imprinted in my mind.