To the Woman who's never in the pictures

Dear Jenna,

I remember when I first walked into the Majority Caucus room for my interview two Novembers ago. I was so nervous, but you and Joe were so light hearted you made this intimidating building and conference room just seem like a fun place to be. After two sessions serving as a Page, I now count you beyond just deputy sergeant-at-arms, but now as both a friend and mentor. You’ve taught me so much these past two years, and the countless problems that I have brought forward to you that you’ve helped me solve are immeasurable. You taught me the ins and outs of the legislature, and that sometimes the best way to truly honor a happy moment is to just take a picture. I can’t thank you enough for giving me this incredible opportunity, that honestly was one of the greatest experiences of my time in college.

I realize now that you were right when you said, “Once a page, always a page” and now see the importance cherishing what I learned here.

I hope to one day be admired as a boss as much as I know that me and my fellow pages admire you as ours.

Thank you Jenna for everything, and to quote to the timeless Senator Russell Pierce “You are a great American Jenna Lyon” *cue fist bump*

Sincerely,

Zachary McCutcheon

In Retrospect

There a great many things that I learned in my time as a Page at the Arizona Senate. To begin with, I learned how to carry myself around high-level figures and in high decorum situations. As I plan to one day have a career of my own in politics, I am glad to have learned this important character aspect early on so that I can utilize it in future meetings and events where there are people present who far out rank me.

I also learned the democratic process and was able to see how a bill becomes a law up close. I found this also to be particularly important simply because as a politically involved citizen, it is important to understand how things work in the democratic arena, and to better comprehend why certain politicians have to make certain decisions.

In retrospect, I got everything that I wanted out of this internship. I gained the necessary experience to pursue the path in politics that I so wish to follow, and I earned a level of respect for the legislature that did not exist prior to my time as a page. I was humbled serving in my position, and understood that if  I want to one day serve in the legislature, I must first put in time and pay my dues as staffer.

My time here has been one of the singular most impacting experiences in college, and I am so glad that I was afforded this incredible opportunity.

How to Negotiate a Raise

The second career services event that I attended was the “How to negotiate a raise” discussion. While this discussion, like the first, was relatively low in attendance, I was rather disappointed in that fact once I learned how important this information as.

While yes, the presenter went over the very basic, “dress your best” and “keep the right attitude” fly-over topics, she did also touch on the very necessary ones that are often forgotten. She talked about how critical it is to make your employer understand exactly why you think you deserve the raise your asking for. Make sure that you really believe it and have the evidence to support your claim, because the first person you have to win over in any persuasion is yourself.

I was very happy I attended this talk, and greatly wished the woman who led this discussion had also led the first career services event, as this woman was much more lively and engaging.

Those two little Latin Words

Sine Die has finally come around. For those of you who do not know what Sine Die means, it is latin for “No future date set”. This is the term that is motioned when the Arizona Legislature wishes to end that year’s session, and it marks the end of my time as a page.

Always the interesting event, Sine Die draws all of the lobbyists and former staffers to the capitol for one late, late night of democracy and debauchery. Senators and Representatives alike wait out this long night of voting in their offices, as they patiently hold out for the other chamber to finish their voting. Traditionally, the House always takes roughly a thousand times longer than the Senate to finish voting, and 2015 was no exception to the rule. As it was my final legislative session as a page, I felt that it was important for me to fulfill my final duties and wait out until the final motion was made. Little did I know, however, that this honorable notion left me staying at the Senate until 4am, tired but not regretful.

As per usual, the Senate finished voting on their bills around 9pm, where as the House felt the need to keep open debate on nearly every single item. This lead to an exacerbated time voting on the House floor, and left me sitting in the Senate Page office with my boss, and two other pages playing with the beach volleyball until the sun finally rose the next day.

You can only imagine how happy I was to finally be able to walk onto the senate floor at 4 that morning, and turn on the mic for the Majority Leader, Senator Steve Yarborough, to mumble those beautiful 9 words, “Mr. President, I motion the Senate stand Sine Die”.

Gladwell disappointed me

Back to Gladwell. This latest reading is also quite shocking, in that it released to us readers that all of the many privileges and avenues of success by luck can all actually be attributed to Gladwell himself. In the final chapter of the book, A Jamaican Story, Gladwell reveals that his own mother is a byproduct of certain privileges that were passed down that allowed Gladwell to become the person he is today. As she was born in the impoverished island nation, she was able to go to school in the United Kingdom where she met a wealthy man whom she married and moved to America with. From here, Gladwell was born into an affluent family that afforded him the opportunities to go to college, and eventually become a successful top-selling author.

This story in a way saddens me in that it shows that even Gladwell is a byproduct of this born-into success. While yes, he had to work very hard to get to where he is today, much of that is due in part to being born into the family that he was, and the privileges that genetic lottery allowed him. I for some reason was hoping that he too had experience a kind of 10,000 hours—a feat that meant his hard work was the cause of his success, not his birth. Alas, I was not able to be satisfied by the ending of this book, and finished reading it with a sadness hoping that I too was born into the right family.

Leadership here

There are many strengths to being able to work for an institution as established as the Arizona Senate. One of these being that there is such an order and structure to every single process. It’s all so methodical and this seemingly complex legislative process is beautifully streamlined in a functioning way  that allows such cohesion between the various actors involved, that there seems to be seamless transition between the many hands that legislation is passed through.

The current leadership, while officially is Senate President Andy Biggs, actually mostly falls on the shoulders of Majority Chief of Staff, Wendy Baldo. Ms. Baldo is in charge of hiring of all of the staff in the senate, and reserves the right to dismiss any if the time comes that they no longer fit what the senate needs. I personally believe that under Wendy’s leadership the Senate has prospered (and even got new carpeting last year, which is cool), and I know it will continue to function effectively in the future.

If I were to be in charge, the only leadership change that I would implement is that I believe many of the staff members are underpaid for how much work and hours they put in to making this chamber function into what it does today. While the pages are simply college students trying to get by with an impacting learning experience, the senate staffers put in tireless efforts on behalf of millions of Arizonans who have no idea that they even exist. In my book, that deserves a little pay raise at the very least.