Russ Karpisek probably didn't get much sleep last night. The senator-elect from Wilber says he's always had trouble sleeping before the firsts of life.
NANCY HICKS and JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, January 2, 2007 6:00 pm
Russ Karpisek probably didn’t get much sleep last night.
The senator-elect from Wilber says he’s always had trouble sleeping before the firsts of life — the first day of school, the first game of a sports season.
“I’m already having a bit of trouble sleeping. Overexcited, I guess,” said Karpisek several days before the new year and his first day as a Nebraska state senator.
The start of a legislative session always brings high excitement as senators return from their private lives to the Capitol and the public business of making law and developing a state budget.
Term limits have created an even more dramatic first day, as 22 new state senators will be sworn in.
For 20 people, today will be their very first day as a state senator. Two other newly elected men served as senators in earlier years.
These 22 new members — 19 men and three women — include seven attorneys, four former mayors, several farmers and a retired college president.
The first day of a legislative session is always part business and part pomp.
Senators and their families, dressed in their Sunday finery, will gather in the legislative chamber to take pictures, try out the desks and participate in the swearing-in process.
Amanda McGill of Lincoln said she’ll pull a suit from her closet — one she wore, maybe once, for a college speech competition.
After the swearing-in, the 49 men and women will take up the first business of every session — electing by secret ballot their speaker and the chairmen for their committees.
And after the short, first day of business is over, several dozen senators will move into new offices, with new gold block letters above the door with their new title: Senator.
Russ Karpisek, Wilber
Russ Karpisek doesn’t remember many specifics about his first day of kindergarten in 1971, except that he came home and announced he had a girlfriend.
“I liked her. She probably didn’t even know who I was.”
Karpisek said he always enjoyed school, particularly the social interaction and sports — football, basketball, track and baseball in the summer.
“It wasn’t the learning,” he joked.
Karpisek is sure he would have been dressed in new jeans and shiny white tennis shoes. “Mom would never let me just wear old clothes that first day of school.”
Today the new senator will replace Sen. Jeanne Combs, who did not run for re-election.
On his very first day Karpisek plans to wear his “black suit, white shirt and favorite maroon tie.”
His guests will include his wife, Jill, and children Tyler, 10, and Stephanie, 5.
Sen. Greg Adams, York
Whether it’s the first time sitting at a city council table, the first time walking into high school from middle school or the first day of elementary school, there’s simply that anticipation of wanting to get to know people and get along with everybody, and wanting to avoid making a fool of yourself.
On the first day of high school, will you find the right hallway? Where will your locker be? Will the bigger upper classmen chew you up?
The first day of the first session of the Legislature isn’t much different, said Sen. Greg Adams of York. They’ve had orientation sessions and opportunities to get to know each other. But there is more to learn about the veteran senators.
“I don’t want to mess up. I don’t want to embarrass myself,” he said.
Experience is a dear teacher. You have to sit and listen and learn, and be careful when you decide to speak with what you’re going to say, he said.
And there are some of the same questions today as there were other first days.
Will you find the right hallway? Where will your office be? Will the more experienced senators chew you up?
Sen. Amanda McGill, Lincoln
Amanda McGill’s first day of first grade was 20 years ago at St. Robert Bellarmine School in Omaha. Hard for her to believe it’s been that long.
“I have a lot in common with that 6-year-old version of myself.”
She had attended kindergarten at a public school and so came into first grade with nearly a whole new group of kids.
She acclimated quickly and was elected the president of her first- grade class. She also organized soccer games on the playground after lunch.
In middle school, she became shy, and didn’t fully regain her confidence until college, she said.
She hopes her years in the Legislature don’t come with that awkward equivalent of the middle school years.
When you’re 6, she said, you’re just excited about what lies ahead, even though you don’t have a full concept of what that means.
She’s just as excited about that first moment on the chamber floor as a senator, when she’ll find it hard to believe she’s actually there.
“Even with all this training, I can’t begin to fathom what it will be like.”
Like the first day of school, her parents and sister will be there with her.
And then, after all the busyness and excitement of that first day, she’ll acclimate to the new environment and people.
Before long she’ll be asking, “Soccer game anyone?”
Sen. Dave Pankonin, Louisville
Dave Pankonin has left his hometown for new long-term adventures a couple of times. Once he moved to Lincoln to attend college and another time he moved to Evanston, Ill., to attend graduate school at Northwestern University.
New people and new places are exciting, he said.
And he is looking forward to the first day of the Legislature in Lincoln for the same reasons.
He has spent a lot of time getting ready for the session, especially preparing his small business, Pankonin’s Inc., a farm equipment dealership, for his absence.
“I’m trying to get things in order as best I can,” he said.
For today, he has picked out one of his better suits, chosen a black patterned tie and shined his shoes.
“It’s just like the first day at your job, you want to be there early and be attentive,” he said.
Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com. Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.