As we sit down in the conference room the guide says in a firm and serious voice. “This is what it’s like to be a legislator.” “Now look down at your sheet and decide, what do you think?” This was one of my favorite parts of the trip as it put me in a deep thought. In addition I also learned a lot of new things that were very interesting and surprising.

Last Friday we had a field trip that while I had mixed opinions on it, there also were moments that I really enjoyed. So, firstly something I enjoyed was when in the conference room the guide had us vote on laws. I really enjoyed this due to the fact that I felt like I had a role in the voting process. This also made me think hard about the opinion I believed in. Another thing I liked, which was also in the conference room, was when we had to estimate things like the amount of legislators and the populations of Scarsdale and Westchester. Just like the voting it made me think hard about my opinion. Another thing I like about estimation is how 90 percent of the time you are shocked about how off your guesses are. I thought the population of Scarsdale was 60,000 and then later realized that my guess was three times the actual answer. Lastly, the bus ride. This might be a shocker towards the end of the trip. I really needed a break and the bus ride did just the job. Secondly the bus ride is also great for people like me with small attention spans because it’s not required at all. Something I remember from the bus ride was playing a game about my knowledge on Soccer players. For me this was a huge reset from all the information I had to take in. 

But I will not take away the fact that the information I had to take in was very interesting and surprising. So here’s three facts I learned on this trip that really met my eye.

Firstly, one thing I learned is that there are 17 districts in Westchester and mine is the fifth. This kind of shocked me due to my district sort of being my world. So the fact that there were 16 other districts really shocked me. Another shocker was the fact that my district is one of the smaller districts. I remember hearing 20,000 after guessing 60,000 and my mouth was wide open. Following that another number that shocked me was that the population of yonkers is over 10 times the population in Scarsdale. This also puts into perspective how big westchester is and makes me really think. But lastly something that shocked me the most was when the legislator told our class. Someone in our district’s high school recommended a law that took action in real life. To me this was diabolical and made me really want to take action myself. This also made me think I could do this myself even though I know I couldn’t.

In conclusion, this was a great field trip that had many interesting and mind blowing facts that really made me think. But, I ask you, do you think you can create a law? How far do you think the law will go?