Good experience in Richmond
Published 8:48 pm Saturday, March 10, 2012
Freshman Delegate Rick Morris, R-Carrollton, has had an active 2½ months in Richmond, from introducing legislation to hosting a program for high school students.
Morris was the only one among Virginia’s lawmakers from the House to host the Delegate for a Day program. Students from more than 15 schools in his 64th District, which includes parts of Isle of Wight, Prince George, Southampton, Surry and Sussex counties and parts of Franklin and Suffolk, went to Richmond. They got a front-row seat to see how laws were made during this legislative session, which ended Saturday.
The program gave middle and high school students from public and private schools the opportunity to become involved in the legislative process.
One of those students was Windsor High School senior Spencer Snyder, who’s interested in a career in politics. Suffolk students also were given the chance to participate in the program.
What an opportunity for Snyder and these other young folks.
Some of us here at The Suffolk News-Herald had similar opportunities with newspapers while in high school and college. Many readers will recall their own internship and job-shadowing experiences before they entered the workforce in their chosen careers. It’s good to explore your career interest before committing your life to it, and there’s no better way than to do an internship, job-shadowing or similar program.
Thanks goes to Delegate Morris for allowing these young people to experience a bit of what they can expect in the political arena. Perhaps if they choose to enter politics later in life, having been exposed firsthand to one of the most rancorous General Assembly sessions in modern memory, they will enter the arena with more grace than they saw displayed in the 2012 session. They surely couldn’t do much worse in that regard.