Philip James Hart
The Free Press

I’m sitting on the rather stiff mattress of the supplemental cot in our five-person room. It’s been a very long day. It started out the same as almost every day. My classmates and I woke up, showered, ate our continental breakfasts, and hopped incrementally onto shuttle buses to the metro station. But the difference this day was geographic. Our destination was the U.S. Capitol. We all knew where we were going, but none of us really had any idea what to expect.

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Aside from a complete lack of up or down motion, it was pretty similar to a rollercoaster. At the end of the ride though, we experienced a thrill much different from your average amusement park novelty. As the congressional mine-cart ride came to a squeaky stop, we all gasped as John Kerry walked hastily toward whatever obligation.