Intern Introductions

Transcripción

1 Intern Introductions Summer 2013 HEP CAMP Association

2 HEP CAMP Association Interns 2013 Summer HEP CAMP Association Name: Hometown: University: Major: Sponsor: Placement: Laura Galindo The Dalles, Oregan Oregon State University Political Science HEP CAMP Association Office of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)

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4 Laura Galindo HEP CAMP Association Intern The Dalles, Oregan Political Science, Oregon State University Placement: Office of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) HEP CAMP Association Intern Biography Laura Galindo is a Mexican-American raised in The Dalles, Oregon. She just completed her freshman year at Oregon State University and is a proud first-generation student. Her immediate family conssist of a hardworking single mother and two younger siblings. She has set a good example for her siblings by getting her entire undergraduate college career paid for by scholarship and federal funding. She feels grateful for this opportunity in Washington, D.C. and is excited to learn more about politics since she wants to pursue a career in political science and become an immigration lawyer in the future.

5 Laura Galindo Introduction 6/8/13 6/9/13 From Oregon to DC Hello everyone! My name is Laura Galindo, but you already knew that. I represent Oregon. I am a first generation student and I just completed my first year of college in Oregon State University (OSU), I want to major in Political Science and minor in Spanish. In the future I wish to help out my Latino community by granting them citizenship, so I want to pursue a Law degree and become an immigration lawyer. My parents are both from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and I was born off the coast in Oregon in a small fishing town called Astoria. If any of you have seen the movie The Goonies, then it will be interesting for you to know that the movie was filmed in Astoria. I have been raised by a single mother for as long as I can remember and right now my immediate family consists of my mother Laura Palomera, and my two twin younger siblings named Luis and Marina who are 15 years old. I will be recording my experiences in Washington D.C. in this journal. The purpose of this journal is to have a record of everything I do and serve as a reference to future HEP/CAMP Association interns. This will be helpful for you, the reader, and me. It will be beneficial for me because I will be able to have a reference for the future and I will look back at the end of the internship and see how much I have grown and improved throughout this 9-week period. It will be beneficial for future interns because they will know what to expect and have a better understanding of how the process works. It will also serve as a guide because through my experiences you will know what to do, and what not to do. I can already list a couple of things: Ladies, break in your heels if you bought them new, or else you WILL GET BLISTERS! BRING AN UMBRELLA because it will rain and you will be soaking wet!! And you don t want your nice professional clothes to smell like wet dog. Buy a nice black bag or small tote bag because you will be carrying a lot of binders and papers and metro passes and money and dorm keys and you really don t want to lose these items. I suggest a lanyard. From personal experience, don t forget your toothbrush, and most importantly, be early to the airport when boarding your plane! Be prepared to learn, create connections, and bond with anyone and everyone you meet.

6 Take pictures of EVERYTHING! For the readers who just enjoy reading my journal for fun, I hope you find my experiences amusing. I am going to start off by saying that I lost my airplane :0! Don t get me wrong; I arrived at the airport early. The problem was that my luggage bag was so heavy; I think it weighed 80 lbs. and the maximum limit is 50 lbs. so it took me a while to move the 20 extra pounds to a cardboard box. The result: I ended up catching a plane that was leaving an hour later. The funny thing is that I actually ended up arriving at the airport earlier because the second airplane was a one-way, the other one stopped in Chicago. The difficult part was finding my way from the Dulles Airport to Reagan Airport, because that is where everyone else were flying in. I found the shuttle van station easily, it cost me like $30, but it took me like an extra hour and a half to get there. I was the third to last person to arrive. Gabriela Bustos (Gaby), Michael Suarez, Jessica Barron, and Areli Artiaga were already there. I already knew Gaby since she also attends OSU and is in the same CAMP program with me. I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous because I didn t know what to expect from the other interns, but as soon as I walked into the circle, they were all friendly and talkative and excited. The more and more I talked to them, the more and more I began to think this was going to be a good summer!

7 Laura Galindo 1 st Week 6/10/13 6/16/13 The Move-In and CHCI Patrick was our supervisor and guide for the first week. He was in charge of making sure we were situated and safe. Patrick is amazing; our group likes to call him Uncle Pat. He was really helpful this week in guiding us to our job locations. I learned that I would be working in one of the senate buildings called Russell along with Jessica and Michael. Here is a picture of us in front of Russell. The picture on the right is a pic of all of the girls with Patrick waiting for the metro. Pat showed us how to use the metro, which was really scary for me because there is no metro where I live back home. It was the most confusing thing ever! Most of the time, I would just follow the crowd. Pat gave us Smartrip metro cards that we swipe at the entrance to get in and when we exit the station. One day, we were transferring at Metro Station and the train had just arrived, we all ran to catch it, but I couldn t get through the entrance because the machine didn t want to read my card. Everyone made it inside the train except for me!!! My immediate reaction was to call Pat but there is no service down there. I felt lonely and scared once again, but I put my big girl pants on.

8 Once I cleared my head, I remembered that the stop we were going to was Union Station. I got onto the next train and the crew was waiting for me there. They were all worried and happy to see me. After that, I am proud to say that I know my way around the metro. The first week we had activities and workshops planned with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute or CHCI. They are also a group of students interning in DC, but their group is a lot bigger with a total of 36 students. Most of them are also older than us. We attended workshops that talked about how to build relationships in a professional environment, DC etiquette, plain language writing, speech skills and other similar topics. We had a lot of presenters throughout the week, and we received business cards from each, they were ready to help us answer any questions and concerns. Overall my first week in DC surpassed my expectations. I arrived a little frightened of the unknown, but ready to start work. I learned that the most important skill in DC is to make and maintain connections. Because here and like many other places, it s not what you know, it s who you know. If you are a future intern I suggest you come with an open mind and ready to absorb political knowledge. I can assure you that by the time you finish this internship, you will have a better, clearer understanding of how the government works. Here are more pictures of our first week: Her e we wer e at a Per uv i an r es t aur ant c l os e t o GW. A f l oor - mat e named Mac k enz i e ac c ompani ed us. I had c ev i c he.

9 Dur i ng our phot oshoot on t he st eps of t he Capi t ol, we encount er ed a candi dat e r unni ng f or pr es i dent f r om Hondur as Thi s day we wer e gi ven our busi nes s c ar ds. We wer e i n Pat s hot el r oom. As y ou see, i n l ess t han a week we wer e al l r eal l y Her e we wer e on our way t o McDonal ds af t er a st r ol l t o t he Whi t e Hous e.

10 Laura Galindo 2 nd Week 6/17/13 6/23/13 Internship!!! This week we started our internship! Michael and I work in the same office: office of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York. We are the office with the most interns, a total of 36! Tiffany, a CHCI works with us, and Charlene, a CHCI alumni. On our first day we went over policies and read over the binder we were given. After lunch we had to do a scavenger hunt. We were all over the place! We went over to the House side and all over the Capitol building, it took us two hours and half. After we were done, we were dismissed. Below is a picture of our first day on the job. During our scavenger hunt, we were told to take pictures as proof that we were actually there. This week we were taught how to handle mail, how to check our s, how to answer phone calls, and we went on tours in the Capitol building because we will be giving tours in the future. On Thursday we had a quiz over the material we are supposed to know for the tours. There was also an ice cream party outside the building at the park! The picture is above. For some reason, our outfits on the picture match the red white and blue ice cream color, very patriotic.

11 This weekend was a really fun weekend. I feel like pictures talk more than words, so I ll let them talk. On Saturday night three of the CHCI s and three of our floormates went to a karaoke bar called Elephants and Castles. For most of us, it was our first time. We want to go back next weekend. Before we went out, we cooked a Mexican dinner. We all pitched in and we each were in charge of something. It was sooo gooood!! Wish you could have tried some!

12 Laura Galindo 3 rd Week 6/23/13 6/30/13 Getting Used to Things I am already getting the hang of things at work. By now I have a set mental list of things to do when I arrive to work. First I check my intern (every intern has a number, I am #24). Usually the morning announcements are on there, like who is giving tours that day, and who is covering phone shifts. Then we disburse the morning papers to their offices. After that is done, we usually hang around and wait for the mail to come in and do that. Sometimes I read over The Weekly Journal to check if there are interesting briefings I can attend throughout the week. Because there are so many of us, the mailroom gets really crowded and most of the computers are taken, so we take turns. Whenever there isn t anything to do, we usually batch the scanned mail. Sometimes we run errands to the House side, other times we take the mail to the scan room. I wear high heels at work so you can imagine how tired my feet get after work. Actually, the platform on the heel has already fallen so they are extra loud on the hallways. Today, Michael, Brendali, Gaby and I have decided to start the Insanity program! For those of you who don t know what Insanity is, it s an extreme workout video. We have decided to try to lose weight so we could look good in our bikinis I will keep you posted on whether we actually stick to it or not. Afterwards we went out on a jog to the Lincoln Memorial.

13 This week the weather has been soooo bipolar! One second it s sunny and everything s good, the other it s cloudy and pouring. It s a good thing I brought my umbrella from Oregon. Thanks Amas Aduviri! It can be annoying because nobody likes to get their professional clothes wet, especially on your way to work. Yesterday we went out to Ultra bar. It s a club by metro station. It is always fun when the whole gang goes. I really like Ultra Bar because it has 4 floors, each with a different genre of music. My favorite is the second floor because they play Bachata; the downside is that you have to wait like 40 minutes in line, and its $20 to get in. Here is a picture of us ready to dance! The girl in the green dress is Brendali s coworker her name is Roxane. The picture on the right is inside Ultra Bar from the second floor.

14 Laura Galindo 4 th Week 6/30/13 7/7/13 Celebrating History You have probably already guessed how busy this week has been at work because of the very important holiday. This was the last week for some of the interns and they were running around attending the last hearings they could before they left. I myself was giving tours left and right and I did three phone shifts! The new interns come next week, they are the last set of interns for the summer and I am going to get to teach them how to batch mail and everything that I have learned. Now there will be 7 old interns, including myself, and 22 new interns! Now I will tell you about the highlight of my week, 4TH OF JULY! It is really hard to explain the feeling and the adrenaline rush I felt when I saw the firework show, but I will try my best to paint it through words; you have to see my facial expressions and hear my tone of voice to get catch my drift, or just attend one yourself. We were on the steps between the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflection Pool, where the fireworks were fired. The show started close to 9:30, but we knew it would get packed really fast so we headed out at 5:30. And we were right, it got crowded in a blink of an eye. Even though the show only lasted around 20 minutes, it felt like it lasted one hour. I had never experienced something so powerful, so exciting. Back home, the fireworks last longer, but they don t compare to the ones in the nation s Capitol. They really know how to celebrate here in DC! Let me show you what I mean:

15 Now do you kind of get what I was talking about? The picture on the right is the background on my iphone. Throughout the show, we were all very silent, I think we were taking it all in. I assumed Areli and Brenda were thinking about their boyfriends and that the rest of the group were thinking about their family back home. My mind was blank just blank. When it was all over Michael was sure I was thinking about my mom, when I told him I wasn t, he was surprised. I was a bit surprised myself. I hadn t noticed it until then: I really don t miss my family. I know you might think that I am a bad daughter and sister or that I am cold hearted, but for me, talking to my mom once a week and snapchatting my sister once in a while is enough. As long as I know they re okay, I am okay. It s not that I don t love them because I do, my conclusion is that I have been really independent all my life and I am used to being separated from my mom when she would fly off to work in Alaska. And like my mom, I love to travel and explore, and I can t do that with my mom holding my hand, there are sacrifices that come with freedom. This is something I have learned about myself my freshman year in college, and I have reinforced this idea even when I am on the opposite side of the country. Yesterday we went to the zoo here in DC. The good thing about the attractions here is that they re free! It was so big that we were too tired and hot to finish the exhibits, but we saw a good chunk of it, from gorillas to elephants to orangutans and zebras.

16 This week we didn t go to CHCI programing, instead we volunteered for community service. They split the group into two and I was part of the group that volunteered at the Shalom House, which is a supportive-service affordable housing for homeless and extremely low-income single adults. We were there for around 3 to 4 hours helping beautify their garden by pulling out weeds. We were offered agua de Jamaica and red velvet cookies. I really like the idea of doing community service in DC because it is something I do back home on a regular bases, which is the main reason I joined a sorority spring term. I will tell you more about my sorority later on, for now, enjoy these pics.

17 Laura Galindo 7 th Week 7/22/13 7/29/13 Making a Difference Guess what!? This week I gave my first tour in Spanish! A Peruvian family is visiting their daughter who is a lawyer here in DC. Michael and I were super exited and a little nervous because although we both are fluent Spanish speakers, it is difficult to translate for certain words on the spot, for example, chandelier, steamboat, sculpture, and senate chamber. We looked these up in the dictionary beforehand and the most interesting definition we thought was funny was the chandelier one, which translates to arana de luces. And arana de luces translates to spider lights, not chandelier. So you see why we were nervous. Gustavo, another intern who is originally from Mexico saw that I was struggling and suggested that we translate the talking points in writing for the office. I thought this was the coolest idea and we started right away! We ended up with a 4 page paper that I believe is the first translated tour guide in the Senate because earlier that week the interns from CHCI interning on the Senate side met with Maria Meier, the director of the Senate Democratic Diversity Initiative, and she mentioned that there had been requests for translated versions of the tour guides. I ed her the tour guide. I will keep you updated once I hear back from her. Going back to the tour, the family was super nice and it reminded me of my family. Liz Lopez, the lawyer was also part of the tour and I was able to connect with her after the tour. I met up with her and she told me about her experiences as a Latina Lawyer. She is such an inspiration. Another exciting event at work was the Congressional Caucus on black men and boys hearing. Tracy Martin, the father of Trayvon Martin, was part of the panel. I didn t make it to the hearing room so I went to the overflow room and it was still really crowded. Even though I watched it through a screen in a different room, it was still impactful. It brought many of us to tears.

18 This weekend we just chilled in the dorms, we really didn t do anything exciting. I think last weekend sucked the energy out of all us and we just needed some rest. I would like to share the tour guide I translated. Enjoy!

19 Notes on Talking Points for Capitol Tours in Spanish Office of Senator Gillibrand Emancipation Hall o Cada estado dona 2 estatuas que están en exhibición por todo el Capitolio. Las estatuas deben ser hechas de mármol o bronce. Las 18 estatuas en Emancipation Hall manifiestan la diversidad del país. o Emancipation Hall muestra el molde de la estatua de libertad que fue agregada al domo en La estatua mide 19.5 pies de altura y pesa 13,000 libras. o Hellen Keller es la única estatua de niño/a y fue donada por el estado de Alabama donde nació. También es la única que se puede tocar ya que ella era muda, sorda, y ciega y su descripción en braille esta alrededor del borde. o La estatua de Frederick Douglass es la última que ha sido añadida y fue donada por Washington DC. Él fue el mejor escritor afroamericano en su época y lucho por la abolición de la esclavitud. George Washington Cornerstone o Aquí tenemos la primera piedra que fue colocada durante la construcción del Capitolio por George Washington en Supreme Court Chamber o Esta fue la cámara del Senado de 1800 al Aquí fue la primera inauguración en Washington DC de Thomas Jefferson en o De 1810 al 1860 la Corte Suprema ocupó esta cámara. o El edificio actual de la Corte Suprema fue completado en o Después de que el Capitolio fue incendiado por los Británicos en la guerra de 1812, esta Cámara sobrevivió el incendio pero Benjamin Latrobe, el diseñador, la renovó y la construyo con el fin de hacerla más segura. o En esta Cámara hay 5 bustos de los primeros jueces de la Corte Suprema: John Marshall, John Jay, John Rutledge, Oliver Ellsworth y Roger Taney. o El Reloj Willard fue puesto 5 minutos adelantados para que los jueces no tuvieran excusas para llegar tarde. o El relieve sobre el reloj fue esculpido en 1817 por Carlo Franzoni. La figura es Justicia quien sostiene una balance en su mano izquierda y una espada en su mano derecha. o El número de jueces en la Corte Suprema fluctuó de 5 a 10 durante el periodo de 1789 a o Algunos de los casos que tomaron lugar en esta cámara fueron Trustees of Dartmouth College v Woodward, Gibbons v Ogden, McCulloch v Maryland, Dread Scott v Sandford, y United States v The Amistad entre otros.

20 Chandelier o -Esta araña de luces fue adquirida de la Iglesia Metodista del Capitolio en The Crypt o Las 13 estatuas en la cripta representan los 13 estados originales o La estatua que fue donada por Nueva York es Robert Livingston. Él fue el primer canciller del estado ya que ocupaba el puesto judicial más alto de su tiempo. Fue miembro del comité de los 5 que redactaron la Declaración de Independencia. También inventó junto con Fulton el primer barco de vapor. Fue el primer secretario de asuntos internacionales y ministro en Francia de 1801 a 1804 donde negoció la compra de la Luisiana. o La piedra en el centro marca la intersección de los cuatro cuadrantes de Washington DC. Se dice que si uno pisa la piedra tendrá buena suerte. o Las lámparas tienen perforadas 13 estrellas que simbolizan los 13 estados originales. o Una réplica de la Carta Magna se exhibe detrás del vidrio. La original estuvo aquí de 1976 al 2010 como préstamo de la Gran Bretaña. o El busto de Abrahán Lincoln fue esculpido de memoria y le falta la oreja izquierda porque al escultor se le acabó el mármol. Se dice también que representa el segundo término que no pudo completar debido a su muerte. o Aquí tenemos un modelo a escala de la Plaza Nacional. Grand Stairs o Todos los presidentes de los Estados Unidos descienden estos escalones cuando son inaugurados. The Rotunda, the Frieze, and Oil Paintings o El domo fue completado en Mide 96 pies de diámetro y 180 pies desde el piso hasta el dosel. o En el techo encontramos la Apoteosis de George Washington. Apoteosis significa elevar a una persona al rango de Dios o la glorificación de una persona como un ideal. Fue pintado por Constantino Brumidi, un pintor Italiano quien también pinto la Catedral de la Ciudad de México. George Washington está sentado en el centro rodeado por 13 doncellas que representan las 13 colonias. o Las 6 escenas en la parte externa de la Apoteosis representan: Guerra, Marina, Comercio, Mecánica, Ciencia, y Agricultura. o En 1878 Brumidi comenzó el fresco que incluye 19 escenas de la historia americana. Su trabajo termina con la escena de William Penn y los Indios. No pudo terminar puesto que se cayó y quedo colgando durante 15 minutos. Dos años después falleció a causa de estas lesiones.

21 o o o o o Filippo Costaggini completó el resto de los diseños hasta el Descubrimiento de Oro en California. Sus diseños no fueron aprobados. Como consecuencia, pintó su cara en el tronco del árbol junto al helecho. En 1951 Allyn Cox terminó el fresco con la escena de los hermanos Wright y el Nacimiento de la Aviación. Todas las pinturas son al óleo y miden 12 pies x 18 pies. Una de las pinturas es del Bautizo de Pocahontas. Vestida de blanco, Pocahontas es bautizada con el nombre de Rebecca en Jamestown, Virginia. Está rodeada por su familia incluyendo su padre el Jefe Powhatan y su hermano Nantequas quien no aprueba la ceremonia. Después se casó con John Rolfe quien está de pie detrás de ella. Su unión es el primer matrimonio registrado entre un europeo y una nativa americana. Esta unión simboliza algunas creencias americanas de esos tiempos que las tribus nativas debían aceptar el cristianismo y otras costumbres europeas. La Declaración de Independencia fue pintada por John Trumbull. En la pintura, están John Adams, Benjamín Franklin, Thomas Jefferson entre otros. El comité de los cinco presentó la Declaración de Independencia ante el Segundo Congreso Continental y al presidente John Hancock en Julio de 1776 en Filadelfia. Famous Sculptures o La escultura de Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, y Susan B Anthony encarna el movimiento de los derechos de las mujeres. La parte que no está terminada significa que todavía hay mucho por hacer por los derechos de las mujeres, aunque se rumora que la primera presidenta será esculpida aquí. o Gerald Ford fue el único presidente que no fue elegido por el público. o La escultura de Ronald Reagan tiene pedazos del Muro de Berlín ya que después de su famoso discurso de 1987 dijo, Sr. Gorbachev, derribe este muro. Statuary Hall o Esta fue la Cámara de Representantes que fue usada de 1807 al o Fue incendiada por los soldados británicos en o Los presidentes James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, y Millard Fillmore fueron inaugurados aquí. o John Quincy Adams fue elegido por la Cámara de Representantes en 1824 y fue el único que era parte de esta cámara antes y después de su plazo presidencial. Después de 17 años, sufrió una embolia en su escritorio, después falleciendo en la oficina del vocero de la Cámara. o En este cuarto se debatió la esclavitud, expansión territorial, la guerra con México y los derechos de los estados. o Las placas en el piso muestran los lugares donde se sentaban los representadores que posteriormente fueron presidentes.

22 o La Cámara tiene muy mala acústica y como consecuencia el efecto del susurro. Old Senate Chamber o Fue utilizada de 1810 a Fue quemada durante la guerra de 1812 y fue reabierta en o En 1860, la Corte Suprema se mudó a esta Cámara y estuvo aquí hasta o Hoy en día representa los 32 estados que fueron parte del senado en o Aquí se debatió la esclavitud. o Los 64 escritorios y sillas son réplicas, ya que los originales están en la Cámara actual. o Actualmente esta Cámara se usa para ceremonias y sesiones fotográficas. o Aquí tomaron lugar las audiencias sobre el presidente Clinton y Mónica Lewinsky. George Clinton o George Clinton es la segunda estatua donada por el estado de Nueva York. Él fue el primer gobernador del estado. o Clinton junto con John Calhoun fueron los únicos que ocuparon la vice presidencia bajo dos presidentes diferentes. 9/11 Memorial o Esta placa reconoce los pasajeros que murieron el 11 de Septiembre en el avión que iba a estrellarse en el Capitolio.

23 Laura Galindo 8 th Week 7/29/13 8/4/13 Young Latina Living Since we didn t do much last week, Gaby, Brendali, Areli, Bianca and I decided to take advantage of our last weekend in DC to visit more monuments. One of my favorite monuments was the Marine Corps Memorial in Iwo Jima. Its size is immense and it brings a peaceful feeling to the brain just by standing next to it. I also started a signature pose. Throughout the pictures you will see me jumping just for the heck of it. After visiting this one all the way in Virginia we got hungry for Mexican food. And guess what, we finally found an authentic Mexican restaurant! It took us 8 weeks to find real Mexican food but we are glad we did. The name of the restaurant is El Guajillo. If you are ever in the area and want to indulge yourself in enchiladas, I recommend it. Finding food that tastes almost as good as my mom s in DC makes me feel very proud to be Mexican.

24 It was a long day of sightseeing because we also went to the Natural History Museum. It wasn t as big as the one in the movie Night at the Museum but it was still pretty amazing. My favorite part was seeing the preserved mummies. I also saw the Hope Diamond that was part of the movie The Titanic; it s over a billion years old!

25 Brendali, Gaby and I were really excited to see the Botanical Garden. It was BEAUTIFUL, as if you were walking through a real jungle. After that we decided to stroll around the Capitol Building. It s weird that after working there for 7 weeks, this was the first time I saw the west side of the buiding.

26 Later that night Bianca told us about a Salvadorian restaurant in Colombia Heights named Haydees that we thought was Mexican at first, until we saw that the menu had popusas, a Salvadorian specialty. The restaurant/bar reminded me of Mexico because it was loud, full of people, and there was mariachi!! The ambiance seemed perfect for a Saturday night, especially for our last Saturday night. We danced rancheras, sang with the mariachi, and had delicious enchiladas. On Sunday, we continued our sightseeing. This time we went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Basilica in North America! The funny thing is that the church is part of the Catholic University of America campus.

27 I am looking at these pictures and I just can t help but think that this journey is almost over. I am sad because I don t want to leave. I love the way things are now. I have decided I want to come back to DC soon. The reason this has been so meaningful is because I have met some amazing people that I can call close friends. Even though we live in different states, I know that our friendship will last. There has been thoughts of having a HEP/CAMP reunion in Mexico next summer

28 Laura Galindo 9th Week 8/5/13 8/11/13 Experience, Explore, Live Because this week was our last in the office, and we have so many interns, Noah told us to take days off to enjoy DC. So I took advantage and did just that. I only went to work for two days. On Monday I gave Brendali, Areli, and Jessica, Areli s coworker a tour of the Capitol. It was nice to see them at work and they enjoyed seeing me at work. Tuesday was my last day at work and it was a little sad, but I wasn t too sad because I had planned another trip to New York to visit my friend Nicole! I met Nicole at work, she was also interning in the same office and she lives in Brooklyn. I stayed in Chinatown for two nights by myself because nobody else had the rest of the week off but Michael, but he was done with New York. I would have stayed with Nicole but I wanted to surprise her. I ended up telling her I was there so that plan didn t work out. Either way it was awesome and I tried the train by myself, which was scary. But the trip by myself wasn t scary, I wanted to do something spontaneous before I left DC. I wanted to leave with a BOOM! And I did. I went to the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge and got to see Central Station. Exploring as much as I can, experiencing the political and professional life, and living my time here day by day; that s exactly what I have been doing in DC. I feel so alive, like a wiser human being. My experience here has surpassed my expectations. I ve met a lot of people, made a lot of friends, made really close friends that I plan to keep in contact with. This may be my last week here this summer, but it won t be my last ever. Being surrounded by a Latino/a organization like CHCI makes me feel humble and proud at the same time. Humble because I am surrounded by Latinos/as that share similar upbringings culturally. There is an automatic connection. Proud because I am slowly but surely seeing the positive impact Latinos/as are making. I didn t feel alone, left out or as part of a minority group in DC. I am also proud that my first job ever was working in the fields, now I can see the look in people s faces when I say Yes, I worked on the Hill. I really did start from the bottom,

29 and worked my way here. And it wouldn t have been possible if it weren t for Amas Aduviri, my CAMP director who believed in me, and the scholarship selection committee who found my essay moving, including Patrick Doone. I am beyond thankful and feel blessed for this opportunity. I encourage every single farmworker to apply to the CAMP program because anything and everything is possible. I will end with these pictures. If you would like to see more, add me on Facebook and follow me on Instagram! But remember, this is not a goodbye, it s a see you later