The General Assembly is back in session for another year of politics, and that means that dozens of young men and women are headed to Richmond to be pages for the Senate and House of Delegates.

Chuckatuck teen Bailey Key, who attends Isle of Wight Academy, and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy eighth-grader Ian Turner both are serving as pages this session. Key will be head page — a mentor to all the other pages — by virtue of having also served last year.

I must admit, I’m a little jealous.

As an eighth-grader more years ago than I’d like to think about, I also applied for the page program at the urging of my parents, who were heavily involved in local politics in Newport News at the time. I was looking forward to several weeks without school (but still having to do schoolwork), living away from my parents’ house (but still under strict supervision) and getting to know all sorts of influential people (but still politicians). On second thought, maybe it wouldn’t have been that great after all.

Even though I didn’t want to give up the second half of cheerleading season, I still was crestfallen when I didn’t get chosen for the program. My father chalked it up to the powers-that-be not liking the candidates my parents worked for, but now that I’ve seen Key’s and Turner’s resumes, I know that I probably just didn’t stack up to the competition.

Both young people boast laundry lists of accomplishments, from academic awards and sports to community service.

While in Richmond, the two and their colleagues from throughout the state will spend their time filing, running errands and doing other tasks that sound pretty mundane to older people. But for them, it will be the chance of a lifetime and maybe even spark their interest in any number of careers.

Congratulations both to Key and to Turner. I’m certain they’ll both use the opportunity wisely and return to Suffolk the better for it.