Notre Dame senior Drew Beussink spends spring semester as page in U.S. Senate

Incoming senior Drew Beussink learned a lot over the final four months of his junior year, despite attending his final class at Notre Dame Regional High School in late January.

The remainder of Beussink's school year was spent 700 miles away, learning about the rapport of U.S. Senate members, filibusters and cellphone addiction.

It was the result of learning the meaning of "page" as part of a freshman civics class.

"I didn't know what a page was, so I Googled it, and I saw that a page was a junior in high school who worked in the United States Senate," Beussink said. "I thought it was really cool and something I wanted to do, so I applied for it."

He ultimately got it.

Drew Beussink of Cape Girardeau is pictured with U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill at the U.S. Capitol.SHELBY HOGAN

The application was submitted in February of his sophomore year, and he received a call a month later confirming his pending status of junior for the next school year.

He heard nothing over the next nine months. He already had participated for the Bulldogs swim team in the fall and had anything but the nation's capital on his mind when his phone rang in late December.

"I remember looking at my phone and seeing the call was coming from Washington, D.C., and I was like, 'That's crazy,'" Beussink said. "It was kind of shocking, given that I had forgotten about it."

He was appointed by the office of U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and was one of 30 juniors chosen nationwide to participate in the program. He was to leave Jan. 29 and return June 9, interrupted by just one week off in April to return home.

Preparing for his first extended time away from his family, which includes three younger brothers, he received more information about the program a week before departing. It was traumatic news: No cellphones allowed. He was to turn in his teenage lifeline upon arrival and get it back after his departure.

"That was honestly probably the worst part because it's so hard to stay in touch with people when you don't have your cellphone," Beussink said. "And we can't access internet, either, at our dormitory, so we were really cut off from the world when we were up there."

There was a landline in the dormitory where he stayed, but long-distance calls were not allowed, except by a method foreign to him.

"I had to learn what a calling card was and how to use that," Beussink said. "I could call my parents and friends at night. I did keep in touch with them reasonably well through that."

It was all in keeping with the traditions of the U.S. Senate, the only part of the U.S. Congress still to employ pages.

Phone aside, he was excited about the rest of the page program, as he was interested in politics and never before had traveled to Washington, D.C.

He attended Senate Page School in the basement of his dormitory, beginning his four-class day at 6:15 a.m. and arriving at the Capitol Building minutes before the start of the 10 a.m. Senate sessions.

Assigned as a Democrat page, he was seated on the left of the dais and in for long days. His initial sessions came shortly after President Donald Trump took office and were filled with the confirmation debate of White House cabinet candidates.

"A lot of senators like to protest by speaking on the floor for a long time to make a point, and that's kind of what they were doing, especially with Betsy DeVos and Jeff Sessions," Beussink said. "We actually went overnight. Those both were back-to-back, so we went overnight two nights in a row. And when that happens, we don't have school, obviously."

He said the pages took shifts during those extended sessions, allowing for some sleep. He said two pages quit during the first few days.

He said the responsibility of the pages was to provide support services on the Senate floor during the day, such as preparing a lectern for a senator about to speak, getting water, making copies of proposed bills and delivering legislative correspondence around the complex.

It's a program that dates back to the early 1800s, started by Sen. Daniel Webster.

"Back then, they were, like, 8-year-old boys, and they were all orphans, and they would do basically the same thing we do today," Beussink said. "It's just continued through the years. They basically haven't changed anything. I guess they could use email now, but I think the Senate really appreciates a lot of tradition more than the House does. I think that's why we have pages around for that."

The U.S. House of Representatives also used to have a page program, but it was larger in scope and was terminated amid scandal in 2011.

An aspiring attorney, Beussink said one of his favorite memories was watching the senators' casual interaction away from cameras.

"You know how it always seems like Republicans and Democrats hate each other and don't get along, but they're actually good friends with each other," Beussink said. "Like Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) are, like, two complete polar opposites, and they're, like, really good friends. You'll see them on the floor just talking about their baseball or their kids, whatever. It was kind of cool to watch."

He also saw the confirmation of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch and was left with the lasting image of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who tried to filibuster the motion.

"Nobody was expecting it," Beussink said. "He just walked in and just talked and talked and talked. He was up there for, like, 14 hours, just going on and on and on. It was crazy to watch."

He said the best part of the whole experience was getting to become friends with other pages.

"Like, we were together, literally, all day, from school to our dormitory at night," Beussink said. "I have friends from Mississippi, New Hampshire, California, all around the country. It was really cool to meet all those people."

He also said the whole experience opened his mind about possibly attending college farther away from home.

"It kind of widened my perspective being up there," he said. "Now I'm shooting for bigger and better stuff."

It also confirmed his desire to attend law school one day, and he learned other things about himself.

"What's kind of strange about it was toward the end, when I hadn't had my phone for months, it was kind of strange because I felt I had gotten over my addiction," Beussink said. "I wasn't too excited about getting it back, I guess. It was just kind of a weird feeling. I had just learned to live without it."

jbreer@semissourian.com

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