qm_spring

irginia

apitol

onnections

, S

pring

2016

In truth, there have been a few moments when the 60-day

session felt even longer. That bill is going by until

when

? The

weather is doing

what

? Meriwether’s Café is out of spoons?! But

there is no denying that by and large, session been a whirlwind

from start to finish. It’s almost hard to believe that the end of the

2016 Virginia legislative session is already upon us. Now that we’re

in the final stretch, I’m finally catching my breath and getting the

chance to reflect.

When I think of myself before this internship I can’t help

but smile. How little I knew! I was thrilled to be at the General

Assembly, but was pretty oblivious to what that actually entailed.

Very quickly, I learned a few things. Be nice to everyone. Take the

stairs. Read the news every morning. If someone is a constituent

they get priority. ...Also if someone has doughnuts they get priority.

Occasionally my General Assembly inexperience is

embarrassing. This morning I forgot the name of a delegate in

leadership, and, yes, I’ve been caught taking a selfie... more than

once. But truthfully, being a new kid on the block is pure fun. To

her unending credit, my legislative aide never rolls her eyes or gets

short when I ask a stupid question, which, let’s be honest happens

with conspicuous regularity. From my very first day I was surprised

at her patience and sincere effort to get me acclimatized. And I

certainly needed acclimatization. For those who have been here for

years, it may be hard to perceive it as such, but to me the General

Assembly was a whole new world, one with its own language, its

own rules, and a lot, a lot, of coffee. But this world doesn’t exist in a

vacuum, the opposite in fact. What happens within this old building,

and in the capitol just a few feet away, is only important because of

what it means for the rest of the year, and to the rest of Virginians.

For me to observe and even contribute to this process has made a

lasting impression, to say the least.

From legislators, people around the G.A., and even my Mom

and Dad, I consistently hear the phrase “sausage factory”. This

refers to the idea that seeing behind the scenes, and witnessing the

imperfect process of how something gets made is not always pretty.

As the saying goes, you don’t want to see the making of sausage

or legislation. Everyone is made aware of the laws that get passed,

but not everyone knows about the compromises, those who travel

for hours to speak for minutes in front of committees, the debates,

the research, the heartbreak when something doesn’t pan out, and

so on. Having seen it, it’s hard to deny that the whole convoluted,

meandering journey is a weirdly beautiful thing. The process

allows for a lot of public involvement. Now don’t get me wrong,

my naiveté has led to some shocking revelations. Why did that bill

fail? Why did that vote go that way? What is happening in some of

these committees?? Sometimes in response my legislative aide can

only tell me ‘sometimes it just happens that way’, which I guess is

an important lesson too.

I’m walking away from this 2016 session with a lot of new

knowledge. I know that I have to take the stairs slow or otherwise

by the 5th floor I’m too winded to say good morning. I know all the

worst times to ride the bus from downtown Richmond to VCU, and I

know the best coffee shops within a six-block radius of the G.A.B..

But even more salient than my coffee expertise, is my completely

new understanding of Virginia government. Virginia legislators

disagree with each other. A lot. Sometimes loudly. But after being

here for two and a half months, I sincerely believe that they are just

trying in the best way they can think of, to affect positive change; to

make Virginia a better place to live, and work, and learn. Being a part

of that has been an honor.

Julia Carney is a VCU student who interned with Delegate

Vivian Watts.

Capitol Semester Interns

By Julia Carney

Interns from around Capitol Square were featured on the

March 4th episode of

This Week in Richmond

. The episode can

be viewed on

blueridgepbs.org

archived under This Week in

Richmond.

All captions below read Left to Right.

Omer Kounga, Hayley Allison, Jessica Sinclair

Robyn McDougle, Melvin Johnson, Mo Alie-Cox

Robyn McDougle, Brian Bailey, Julia Carney