Mr. Frohlichstein goes to Washington; his job as a congressional page gave Richie Frohlichstein a close-up view of the House at work.

• Author: Frohlichstein, Richie
• Position: Richie Frohlichstein - Personal account

RICHIE FROHLICHSTEIN, 17

As I stepped onto the floor of the United States House of Representatives on Jan. 31, 2006, I knew it would be a big night. After I took my spot along the railing in the back, Cabinet members, Supreme Court Justices, Congressmen, and Senators filed in. The lights brightened, and the excitement intensified.

Then came the moment we were all waiting for: "Mr. Speaker," said the Sergeant at Arms, "the President of the United States!"

President George W. Bush entered, walking within an arm's length of me, and proceeded to the podium to deliver his State of the Union address. I was 16, and it was my second day as a congressional page.

I first learned of the page program as an 8-year-old visiting Washington. On a tour of the Capitol, I saw a young guy who looked as if he worked there. I asked my mom who he was.

"That's a page," she said. "You can do it some day if you'd like."

Seven years later, when I was a sophomore in high school, I applied to become a page through my Congressman. The news that I'd been accepted came during the summer of 2005.

SEMESTER IN D.C.

In January 2006, I left St. Louis for four-and-a-half months in Washington, joining 61 high school juniors from 26 other states and walking the same halls as some of the most important lawmakers in the world.

Pages are essentially couriers, taking copies of bills, messages, and other documents between offices on Capitol Hill. Each day, for five to eight hours (depending on how busy the House was), I waited at the page desk on the floor of the House for my assignments. Between deliveries, I listened to congressional debates or worked on my homework.

Occasionally, I got to deliver things to the House Intelligence...