The opportunity to be a messenger in the Florida House of Representatives was a journey that I encourage anyone in high school to pursue.
It was a literal journey, as my family and I drove nine hours to the state Capitol in Tallahassee to spend a few days touring the area before I started my week of service. It was also a journey of
personal growth for me, as I overcame nerves, and eventually learned to navigate the building and met some of the 120 representatives and their many aides.
Ultimately, it fueled my curiosity about a possible career in public service; I will apply to serve as a page in the state Senate next year.
After attaching a House of Representatives patch to my own navy suit jacket, which was required attire, I was ready to go the week of March 3.
Or so I thought.
The Capitol is huge and impressive, and I felt as though I was navigating a maze, just like I did during my first day of high school.
Added to the pressure was that I wanted to represent my sponsor, Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, in a positive way.
The program is run on a buddy system: No matter where a messenger is sent, two other kids are assigned to the same route.
The lost kids would turn up in the halls.
With my fellow messengers, we found our way faster by working together. Which was good, because sometimes we had to carry huge bins filled with items destined for elected officials’ desks.
It was the first week of the session, and bills weren’t yet being sent around. Instead, we delivered messages and letters between elected officials, cupcakes (with red icing, addressed mostly to republicans) and mail (and even supermarket flyers). One day a spice company brought products that we delivered to legislative assistants.
Among the highlights of the week was meeting Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis, recorded in a group photo.
We toured the Florida Supreme Court and The Florida Channel (TheFloridaChannel.org), which airs unedited coverage of DeSantis, his cabinet, and the state Supreme Court, its website says.
It also presents live-streams of the legislative session, committees and press conferences.
We got to role play as legislators. Before arriving in Tallahassee, we had homework, which was to propose at least two bills for our mock committee and mock legislative session.
The mock committee was held in a room next to where a real committee was working on a bill, and our mock session was held in the House chambers on two mornings before legislators arrived.
Ideas that won the most votes among the messengers moved up to the mock committee. A good number of submissions made it, and one of those that I think many people in South Florida would support would require drivers to renew their licenses more often.
My proposed bill to increase funding to continue free programs in public libraries didn’t make it past the first vote.
I supported another student’s bill to donate 2% of money raised by the state lottery to schools that teach kids with disabilities; it passed our committee but not our session vote.
Also rejected in the mock session: A bill to require a citizenship test prior to voting.
During these exercises we took turns testifying about bills, acting as chair and, during our mock session, as speaker.
A side benefit was visiting sites in the area with my family, including the Tallahassee Museum.
It has the former Bellevue Plantation where 25 enslaved people cooked and worked in cotton fields, the museum website said.
It also has the Concord Schoolhouse relocated to its campus that was built for the children of former slaves. We saw the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, the first “regularly organized black church” in the state, the museum said.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience: I learned about our lawmaking system and made new friends. We stay in touch on a group chat, and I hope these friendships will last a lifetime.
With my family I visited the sights in northern Florida, with the help of the Fabricio family who showed us around and made me feel so welcome.
For more information visit bit.ly/4cfTajx.