Name: Gizel Gomez
Date(s): 07/29/24-08/04/24
Monday & Tuesday: 07/29/24-07/30/24
Beginning Goodbyes
Monday was our last day of programming with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). As our last assignment for the GW seminar, we were required to write a blog post about a topic of our choice and asked to share it on Monday. We all had a partner and started by sharing with them and providing feedback. Only 10 blogs were chosen, and it was so interesting to see the different topics and perspectives everyone had. We said our goodbyes to Professor Bartels and programming continued with presentations from Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), conversations about recruitment, and discovering our "why". The activity to discover our why was very engaging, we had to write 3 stories depending on the topic and share them with our partner. Our partner would listen and write down themes so they could later create our why statements. It was great to share our stories and see how they are understood by other people.
Tuesday was my second to last day with the White House Hispanic Initiative (WHHI), so I had to start finalizing everything. The only thing I had left was a state profile, so that's what I worked on the entire time I was there. I also met with the executive director to talk about my time in the office and my overall projects. During lunchtime, I had a virtual going-away coffee with my other office, the Office of Migrant Education (OME). It felt so good to hear the entire team thank me for my work and motivate me to keep doing what I'm doing. Apparently, the speech I gave at the Annual Director's Meeting was wonderful, because everyone kept talking about it still!
Random DC Pics
Wednesday & Thursday: 07/31/24-08/01/24
Last Days at a Federal Agency
Wednesday was officially my last day with the WHHI, but there was not much left to do. I was only in the office until noon, and then we all went to the Molina Family Latino Gallery for a personal tour. I had already gone once, but it seemed like this time they had new things on display, so it was great to visit again. We were in somewhat of a rush, so it was a quick 30-minute tour, and then we left for lunch. The staff treated all of us interns to a delicious lunch, and we just sat at the restaurant and talked about our favorite moments in DC. Before we knew it, it was already 4 PM, and we had to head back to the office to finish off the day. Once I got back I finished my work, said some goodbyes, and cleaned out my space.
Thursday was my actual last day at the department in general and working with OME. I used my time to finalize the peer reviewer recruitment flyer, send thank you emails to all the staff, and take note of the assignments I completed over the summer. I couldn't thank everyone in person because everyone was online, so emails were the only option. Once I finalized everything, I took some time to go up and talk with the WHHI, and thank them for an amazing experience. Soon it was time to turn everything in and step out of the office for the last time.
Friday & Saturday: 08/02/24-08/03/24
Offboarding and Delayed Flight
Friday was our last day with CHCI where we talked about being alumni and everyone shared some words with the entire cohort. The HEP/CAMP interns had a White House Tour scheduled early, so we went to that first and then went to meet with CHCI. We missed the entire presentation about being alumni, but the staff that was there took some time to pull us aside and break it all down. After, everyone started saying thank you for everything and shared their appreciation for everyone in the program. Once I got back to my room, it was time to pack. There were so many things to fit into 2 suitcases, so it was a struggle. Finally, when we were all done, the 5 of us remaining grabbed dinner and just talked.
The day I was anticipating was finally here, travel day! It was finally time to go home after being away for 10 weeks. As soon as I woke up, I saw that my flight was delayed by an hour. I tried not to pay much attention and still went to turn in my access key card early since my shuttle was at 7 AM. Everything was going well, bags were checked, no issues going through TSA, until I got a notification that my flight was delayed again. I was already at the airport, so I just grabbed food and waited at my gate until it was time. Once I finally made it on the plane, there was another issue with the system, and we couldn't take off. By that time I had already missed my connecting flight, and it had been rebooked. After sitting in the non-moving plane for over an hour, we finally took off and soon landed in Dallas, TX. To my luck, once I landed I had to rush and find a completely different gate that was on the other end of the airport. After a stressful day full of changes, I finally arrived!
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