I was very fortunate to visit the Georgia state Capitol for the first time on March 23, 2026. I opted to meet my professor, Pete, and some of my friends from the class at the KSU Commons at 8am, so that Pete could teach us how to use public transit to get from KSU all the way to Atlanta.

While waiting in line to get into the Capitol, we met Jeff Jones, who is pictured above (photo taken by Sean). We talked with him while we were waiting in line and learned that he is a peace protestor. He’s been in front of the Capitol every day since the beginning of the session. Steven, one of our other classmates, talked to him before Sean, Woody, and myself did, but we forgot to ask for his name, and Steven forgot to get a picture, so we all were able to share needed information.

After finally getting inside the Capitol, we met Gwenda Booth (next to me in the photo above, photo taken by Pete). She was with a group called NAMI, which stands for National Alliance on Mental Illness. She was telling us about how her organization works with drug rehabilitation centers across Georgia, helping those in need. She gave us pamphlets that told us about some bills that support their cause, and also ones that don’t.

After talking with Gwenda, Sean and I went off to try and find some more people to talk to. A session was currently going on and there was a line to get in, so unfortunately there were no lawmakers out and about, and we couldn’t get in to watch the session. We decided to try and talk to some lobbyists, and after being denied a few times, we finally got to talk to Nick Juliano for a little. He told us that he was a lobbyist and that he’s at the Capitol every day on behalf of various businesses, but unfortunately that’s about the extent of what he could tell us because he had to keep most things private.

Overall, the day at the Capitol was very fun, and I’m very glad I went. I got to learn a lot of things and talk to a lot of people, and also spend some good time with my friends, and I’ll leave some photos of that below.