Most eighth graders are focused on what they are going to wear on their first day of highschool. Drew Goodove was not. Instead, he was preparing for his first day of work as a Virginia Senate Page.

After serving as a Virginia Senate Page in 2019 and hearing a United States Senate Page give a speech, he knew that he wanted to take his passions to the next level.

“I am very into government and how it functions. After getting a first-hand look at the state legislative system, I wanted to expand my political knowledge by getting a front-row seat in the federal legislature,” said Goodove.

Goodove applied for his junior year, in which he was selected among 19 other candidates across the nation to serve as a U.S Senate Page.

Goodove moved to Washington D.C., for six months where he studied and worked in the capitol. 

“Working as a Page is having a full-time job and being a full-time student. My day would start at 5 a.m and go until 11 p.m. I got very exhausted at times, which was an unusual feeling for me because I am usually an energetic guy,” said Goodove. 

Being a Page and Math and Science Academy (MSA) student, worked out well, according to Goodove.

“Junior year in MSA, almost all of your academy classes are AP classes. While being a Page, you must enroll in the Senate Page School, which offers limited classes that are not AP, but most of the classes I was taking at the time (ex., calculus and physics) were offered at the Page school at an AP caliber,” said Goodove. 

Pages are required to pay $780 per month for residence living, which includes housing, two meals a day and field trips. However, Pages earn on an annual salary basis of $35,116, but since pages serve for less than a year, they do not earn an entire annual salary, according to pageprogram.senate.gov.

It is without a doubt that being a U.S Senate Page comes with unique encounters. 

According to Goodove, some of these encounters include giving Vice President Kamala Harris water, presenting a speech in front of Senator McConnell, Senator Mark Kelly, an astronaut, helping him with his physics homework and discussing with Senator Youngkin about Mt. Trashmore.

“I got to stand in a lunch line next to Senator Klobuchar and watch her stick her finger to get the last of the pie filling. I heard Senator Elizabeth Warren call her airpods “buds” and delivered senator Markey’s March Madness bracket to his office. I helped Senator Michael Bennett find his ipad with “find my iphone,” but his ipad was in the Senate chamber dinging and another senator thought it was a bomb,” said Goodove.

In the fall, Goodove will pursue statistical science at Duke University where he plans to combine his passion for government with math, which the Page Program, along with his MSA senior project, helped him explore.

“The access I had I will never have again unless I am a senator. I made life-long friends from around the country and I still travel to see them even after the program is over,” said Drew.