Most of us probably remember that feeling we had as kids when we would sharpen our pencils and stack fresh notebooks into our backpacks, pick out our favorite outfits, and head back to school in the fall with the energy and exuberance that can only come after a few months away from a classroom.This Monday, I had the rare adult version of that sensation when I packed my bag for my first day of work after parental leave. And, coincidentally, more than 100 new members of Congress also experienced the first-day jitters as they descended on Washington for new member orientation.

For Democrats, who exceeded everyone’s expectations in the midterms – flipping more than 40 House seats, and gaining at least six new Senate seats (the race in Alaska still hasn’t been called, but it, too, appears to be favoring Democrats) – it was a more triumphant beginning than most of us had walking into high school for the first time.With the most diverse, anti-establishment new Congress in history came a slate of candidates wholly unfamiliar with the halls of the US Capitol. This year’s freshman class includes doctors and scientists, military veterans, faith leaders, farmers, a smoke jumper, and a Latin Grammy award-winning musician.

Many new lawmakers took non-traditional paths to their current jobs and represent historic firsts in Washington.As I tried to remember my passwords and slogged through 85,000 unread emails after six months away from the office, new Congress members similarly tried to get their bearings as they toured the Capitol, attended briefings and trainings, took group photos and selfies, and contended for office space ahead of their swearing in on 3 January.As representative-elect Dan Koh of Massachusetts told Roll Call: “It really is like high school – but it’s fun high school.”With backpacks slung over their shoulders and fresh new sneakers, the newly elected were eager to forge alliances, befriend upperclassmen and exert their willingness to take on the longstanding bully. The incoming Democratic senator Troy Jackson, of Maine, shared boba tea with Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday, a day after strolling into orientation alongside fellow newcomers James Talarico of Texas and Annie Andrews of South Carolina.Legislators heading to Washington after unlikely victories found themselves as surprised as anyone to be there.

Zack Mullock, a Democratic mayor and representative-elect in a longtime Republican district in New Jersey, joked to CNN, “I had to Google the salary of a congressperson just two days ago.” (It’s $174,000 for most of them, in case you were also wondering.)The US representative-elect Rebecca Bennett speaks to reporters at the beginning of orientation in Washington DC on 8 November 2026. Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/ReutersAs my colleagues returned to work bleary-eyed from a grueling election week, I logged on Monday morning raring to go, and, although I shared some of their sleep deprivation thanks to my failed efforts to sleep-train my son, I had lists of ideas and plans for the year ahead.With a mandate to lower costs and corruption, the new Democratic members have their own ambitions and intentions for the year ahead, whether it’s investigating the Trump administration with their new subpoena power in the House or the progressive pipe dream of pushing forward a single-payer Medicare for All healthcare system.And unlike many of their colleagues, they haven’t weathered two years of Republican control during which they were on the defensive.

Maybe the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed freshmen will be able to legislate the type of change that Americans so clearly demanded.“First day of school!” the representative-elect Rebecca Bennett, of New Jersey, posted on X. “Rebecca, age 39. Favorite subject: ending foreign wars and making child care affordable.”This latter effort is one that has personal resonance.

I am incredibly grateful and fortunate that the Guardian offered me an extended period of parental leave. The US has no federal law mandating paid family or medical leave, and only about a third of US workers can take paid time off to recover from childbirth and care for a new child.

Efforts in Congress to change that have so far been unsuccessful, but many newly elected members have championed a federal paid leave policy as part of their economic platforms.With what’s likely a record number of mothers in Congress, including at least one who brought along her small children to orientation, the effort may have more support than ever before. Thanks to Washington DC’s universal free preschool for my daughter and an affordable daycare for my son, I’ll be watching closely.