Each year, students from across the country apply to be members of the U.S. Senate Page Program, in which high school juniors and seniors spend a semester working as staff members in the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. Only thirty students are selected for this incredibly competitive program each cycle—and this fall, one of those students was the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program’s very own Chris Qian, violin.
Qian, a current junior at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies and member of the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra (RSYO), has had a long-standing interest in the American government system. He was eager to discover an opportunity to work in the federal government so early in his career.
“I learned about the U.S. Senate Page program from a friend who did the program the year before,” Qian said. “She shared some great stories and photos from the program, which piqued my interest and led me to apply,” Qian said.
Each page is sponsored by a different member of the Senate. Qian submitted applications through the websites of both current Virginia senators, and was selected for a sponsorship with Senator Tim Kaine, who previously served as Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010. After receiving notice of his acceptance over the summer, Qian officially moved to Capitol Hill in September 2025, where he would spend the next five months working full-time with the twenty-nine other students selected as pages.
After settling into D.C., pages’ schedules quickly fell into a rhythm. They awoke by 5:00am, beginning their schoolwork at the Senate Page School just an hour later. By 10:00am, the pages arrived on the Senate floor, where they aided with daily operations ranging from preparing the chamber for each daily session, tracking each senator’s vote, helping senators prepare to give speeches, and more. The workday usually ended around 6:00pm, with pages spending the rest of their evenings relaxing, studying, and taking care of their nightly chores. Even outside of schoolwork, serving as a page is a full-time job, and they are paid a salary commensurate with their work.
While Qian was officially sponsored by Senator Kaine, pages serve the political party their sponsoring senator belongs to, so during his semester at the Senate, he worked for the entire Senate Democratic caucus—a total of 45 senators. Throughout the fall, Qian observed and learned as the senators discussed topics ranging from healthcare to international relations. Though he primarily worked with the Democratic party, Qian found himself learning from all the senators—Democratic, Republican, and Independent.
“Working on the Senate floor for 8 hours a day, I’ve come to appreciate the art of a well thought out speech,” Qian said. “Of course, I have my own political convictions, but it was still refreshing to hear all the arguments coming from our very own leaders. Often, these speeches would spark intense political debates among our own group [of pages], which allowed me to practice live debate and argumentation.”
With each day spent observing a new Senate session, Qian’s understanding of American politics grew.
“I … learned a great deal about the inner workings and political dynamics of the Senate that I likely would never have known had I stayed in Richmond,” Qian said. As a Senate Page, he was privy to discussions about the government’s record-breaking 43-day shutdown, American involvement in international affairs, debates about healthcare, and more—all topics which enhanced his understanding of the U.S. government and the issues that affect both Americans on a day-to-day basis and the country as a whole.
When the pages weren’t working and studying, they spent their free time exploring the nation’s vast capital. Some days, they were permitted to explore D.C. on their own; on others, the Senate Page School organized field trips for the pages. Some field trips took place in D.C. and others explored historical sites up and down the East Coast. One memorable experience took the pages to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they learned about Constitutional history.
Though he had the whole city at their hands, many of Qian’s favorite memories came from his time on Capitol Hill. In one memory, Qian described how when he was traveling through the Capitol building one day, he observed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth participating in a press conference regarding American involvement with the country of Venezuela. When catching a glimpse of the press conference through CNN later, Qian watched as Rubio and Hegseth answered questions to reporters—and caught a glimpse of himself as Qian himself walked past in the background. Qian also described meeting the iconic Bill Guy the Science Guy as he lobbied for NASA funding during one Senate session.
Now back in Richmond, Qian has returned to both Maggie Walker and RSYO. Next year, he will be a senior in high school, and is preparing to pursue a career in government and public service.
“As a public servant, I hope to restore public faith in our governmental institutions by making our government more efficient and accountable,” Qian said.
Qian credits his stint with the U.S. Senate as integral in his future career working in the American government system.
“My time as a U.S. Senate Page has instilled in me a granular understanding of our nation’s upper chamber, as well as the most pressing contemporary issues facing our country,” Qian said.
