By: Miranda Threewitt

My name is Miranda Threewitt and I am a rising senior in Wyoming Virtual Academy. This summer I had the wonderful opportunity of spending the month of June in our nation’s capital as a Senate Page. In this position I found myself completing various tasks that included anything from refilling water to being in charge of the delivery of extremely important documents to offices throughout the Capitol and Senate Office Buildings. This paramount experience gave me an exciting chance to discover the inner workings of our government and our capitol, both by helping the Senate floor function smoothly and by exploring behind the scenes. In addition to all of this, I met the most amazing people ranging from presidential candidates and visiting foreign officials, to fellow pages from different places around the U.S. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity and honor to get selected and sponsored by Senator Enzi as the Page from Wyoming.

As you might guess, this program is competitive at the selection stage, as it is open to high school students from Wyoming and any other states who have interested applicants. While I am an accomplished applicant that has earned awards for community service and leadership, I believe the greatest thing that got me through this selection process against other well-qualified and accomplished students was the academic area of my application. Through my six years thus far of being a virtual school student, I have received and taken advantage of a wide variety of classes that you don’t usually find at local brick and mortar schools. I believe this collection of completed courses has set me apart from other students and demonstrated my versatility. In addition to this, I had several AP and honors courses that I was able to take because of my previous academic preparation in virtual school. Without these accomplishments, my academic information might have blended in with all the other applications.

Additionally, virtual high school has given me the flexibility to be able to teach piano lessons and do extra classes at our local high school while also doing a full load of classes with Wyoming

Virtual Academy and participating in several after-school activities. If I was attending brick and mortar school, I wouldn’t be able to do piano lessons during the day or have my extra classes at two different schools, and these elements wouldn’t be there to enhance my application and chances of getting selected. In addition to schedule flexibility, I have experienced many other benefits as a virtual learner, such as being self-motivated, being an effective communicator, learning to set goals, and manage my own time. I’m confident that virtual school greatly aided me in getting selected for this program, and I am proud to have represented non-traditional education in the United States Senate Page Program. It was an unforgettable learning experience!