Name: Gizel Gomez
Date(s): 07/22/24-07/28/24
Monday & Tuesday: 07/22/24-07/23/24
White House Part 3 & and CHCI Graduation
At this point, I've been to the White House 3 times already. Every time they take us to a different room, it's nice to see the different areas in there. On Mondays, we're with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), and this Monday we had a panel visit where Latinos working in the White House talked about their experience. These panels are always very motivating because they encourage us to continue doing what we're doing and give us hope that we can one day bring representation to our community. We were only there for an hour or two and then had lunch on our own. After lunch, we had another panel discussion, but this time at my "job" with the White House Hispanic Initiative (WHHI). They shared a bit about the work they've been doing, their internship, and had staff members rotate between tables. Some of the staff members who spoke with us are CHCI alumni, so it was great to hear them talk about how CHCI benefitted them. Everything was well coordinated, and we even got snacks and popsicles, so that was a plus.
Tuesday was the official CHCI graduation at the Capitol. I started my day off with the WHHI and continued working on my assignments that usually carry over from previous weeks. Some of these assignments tend to take a while because I only work on them 2 times a week. I was mostly putting together a Colorado state profile regarding Latinos in that state, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Latino leaders. I had to leave before 5 PM to make my way to the graduation and practice the common walk, handshake, and picture. Something really embarrassing happened when I was going through security. I had eaten lunch at work, so I had a fork in my lunch box, and the security guard said that was prohibited and confiscated it. After getting through that, I arrived at the room, and soon we all started practicing our walking order. Later, people started coming into the room and the event began. Overall the graduation was great, we had our quick 10-second spotlight moment, and we also heard from Representative Salinas and Representative Adriano Espaillat.
Wednesday & Thursday: 07/24/24-07/25/24
Meeting People in Congress!
Wednesday was another day with the WHHI and it was a prepping day. Since President Biden issued the executive order regarding HSIs, it was a big thing for the WHHI, so there was a meeting going on with the commissioners on Thursday. Everything had to be set up and there were a lot of logistics to be determined, so everyone was busy. After work, there was an event, where we watched a documentary about several people in Congress who faced adversity growing up. "Told They Can't" was the name of the film, it broadcasted their hard upbringing and how many times people told them to quit. Afterward, we heard from Representative Tony Cárdenas and Dr. Lisa Ramirez. Their stories were truly inspirational, they talked about their time in high school, the different paths they took, and how they got to where they are today. Listening to people with power speak about their lives and being able to relate to them is such a motivation for young Latinos. I also had the honor of meeting the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Xochitl Torres Small, a fellow New Mexican.
Thursday was the big commission meeting, but I couldn't attend because I was a chaperone for the NextGen Latino Leadership Program with CHCI. I went to the office until 11 AM and then walked over to the Capitol to meet with everyone else. It was a struggle to get there because there were gates everywhere, and I needed an escort to be let in. Esme, Joan, and I found an entrance but were told we needed an escort and no one knew where we were. We finally made it to the room and got our group of high school students. I had students from New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. We had a schedule to follow and had meetings with the office of Representative Gabe Vazquez, Senator Ben Ray Luján, and Representative Raúl Grijalva. Unfortunately, we didn't meet any of them in person, but we met with their staff. I was surprised by how engaged the students were and the amazing questions they had. Overall, I enjoyed my time with the students, they were curious about our internships, asked for college advice, and were just fun to be around.
Friday: 07/26/24
Half-and-Half
Instead of working from home this Friday, I went to the office for the first part of the day. I was working with the Office of Migrant Education (OME), but my picture was being taken and the WHHI had tickets for us to go to the Library of Congress. It was better to go to the office and then come home after that was all done, so I did. I hadn't worked with OME since last week, so I had a couple of meetings to catch up and check in on my assignments. Now that the directors' meeting had passed, I went back to working on the competition flyers for HEP and CAMP. Soon, it was time to take my picture and head out to the Library of Congress. All the WHHI interns stopped to get our library cards, and then we explored, although I was only there for a bit before I came to my dorm. Once I got back to my room, I had lunch and finalized the competition flyers. By then it was almost time to log off, so I started on a new flyer to recruit peer reviewers, and soon it was time to turn my computer off and begin the countdown for the last week.
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