Seventeen-year-old Jamie Monberg has had a glimpse of the politics of today and tomorrow, a glimpse that the average person may not have seen.

In February, the senior from John Bapst Memorial High School was one of two Maine students to participate in the U.S. Senate Youth Program. One month later he was again down in the Washington, D.C., area as one of two students from the state attending the Shell Century III Leaders conference.

What came from the program, Monberg said, was a better understanding of how the Senate and senators operate as well as some long-lasting impressions. Besides the traditional tours of the White House and the Congress, Monberg was able to see the Legislative branch from a different perspective.

He visited the offices of Maine Sens. William S. Cohen and George J. Mitchell where he learned that each senator has 15 legislative aides who work on the issues, or open and answer the many letters from constituents that pour in each day.

Meanwhile, when the senators are not in Congress, he said, they are always on tight schedules and on the run, not living the glamorous life of continual social gatherings that some may think.

And the senators themselves have more depth than can been seen when the television camera zooms in on them during a session. “They could live next door to you,” he said. “They’re just people trying to do the best job possible.” Oftentimes that means finding a happy medium between what various constituents want, he said.

If the government is established for the people, Monberg questioned why there was such low turnout rates during elections.

“It just seems to be an important thing to me and it’s what people take for granted,” he said. “People should not expect so much and give so little.”

The 104 top students representing schools from every state, Washington D.C., and Department of Defense, also listened to presentations from Gen. Colin L. Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sen. Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.), and Justice Byron R. White.

At the second conference Monberg said that these top students were asked to work in small groups on solutions to problems that could face the country during its third century of existence. In addition, they listened to and spoke with leaders such as Admiral William Crowe Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Working with students from across the country, Monberg said he realized that while American education has its problems, it still has its strengths. “All the people there could compete with the best that Japan has to offer,” he said.

During the Senate program Monberg had sat in the seats of the leaders of Congress. “Looking out at the huge chambers dedicated to the government of our country was incredible,” he said. “There are experiences there that I’ll never have again.”