Special to the Southwest Ledger
Week 1: Livin’ on Caffeine and Jesus
I’ve oftentimes heard state legislative positions referred to as “part time gigs.” To be quite honest, before I ran for Senate, I would talk to my friends in office about these “gigs” as if they were nothing more than a quick, four-month stint and an occasional meeting in Oklahoma City.
Over the past 10 months, I have come to learn that I was completely off-base in my estimation of the time commitment it takes to be good at the job of being a legislator; that said, I’ve also learned that many elected officials, myself included, are more than willing to do the work and spend the time because we all have one thing in common: We love Oklahoma.
My name is Jessica Garvin and I serve as the state Senator for District 43, which covers parts of McClain, Stephens, Garvin and Grady counties. When I was asked to start writing a column for the Southwest Ledger that is separate from my weekly column of legislative updates, I immediately said “YES!” because my mind went straight to the fact that I love to write, and I love to tell stories. My hope, through this new column, is that I can share with you a “behind-the-scenes” account of what it looks like to be a legislator: the raw, unfiltered, and vulnerable side of this job that no one sees unless you live it or live with someone who does.
I was speaking to a journalist this morning about the fact that I feel like I live in a glass house… someone is always watching, and someone is always judging. With your permission, I hope this can be a safe place to give an account to the public of what it looks like from the inside looking out. I promise to be open and honest about my frustrations, my viewpoints, my inner struggles and hopefully, some victories. It is also my hope that you, as readers, can take the politics out of it for just a minute and see the humanity behind the issues.
Before I became elected, I was sometimes so set in my political views that I didn’t consider the impact of doing things a certain way. I quickly realized that good legislators have to learn to take their emotions out of things and make decisions based on consequences, intended or unintended.
Over the next few bi-weekly columns, I will go back to where it all started, walk you through the details of the campaign, tell you about some of the incredible people who I’ve met over the past few years, recount the day I was sworn into office, tell you about the “freshman fifteen” I gained during session (no, that’s not only something that happens in college), catch you up on all the drama of session, and bring you to current day.
It’s going to be a wild, bumpy, yet sometimes smooth (and sometimes extremely emotional) ride, but I hope you will join me on this journey of trying to become a better version of myself and find interest hearing how I continue, every day, to get by livin’ on a little caffeine and a LOT of Jesus.