Name: Gizel Gomez
Date(s): 06/24/24-06/30/24
Monday & Tuesday: 06/24/24-06/25/24
Early Release & Civil Rights Event
Once again, Monday was a programming day with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). The only difference was that we didn't have a seminar since the professor was absent. We began with an activity about ourselves, we had cards, and depending on the number and symbol we had to share something about our experience or goals. The day was mostly dedicated to resumes, cover letters, and interviews. The CHCI staff led programming, they introduced us to the different types of resumes and advised us to adjust our resume depending on the job description. They continued to talk about cover letters and following logistics, and later gave us tips about LinkedIn. We had some time to work on either of those and update them, I worked on my LinkedIn profile because it was not updated. After lunch, we learned about interviews and how to approach certain questions, we had a practice run of answering questions because there wasn't enough time for mock interviews. The day ended early, and we all went to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate one of the intern's birthday. The food was good, the cheesecake was good, and everything was great!
Tuesday was one of my days working with the White House Hispanic Initiative (WHHI) and I finally got a spot on the 7th floor. It wasn't a permanent spot, but at least I got to be up there and interact with everyone else. I was only there for a while because we all attended the Civil Rights Act @60 event. We all went to the National Archives Museum to hear from several panelists. The event was great, they talked about their work and the changes they strive to make. After, we went back to the office and I continued to work on a spreadsheet on Hispanic Serving Institutions. I was checking emails that were sent about a campaign and recording the information of the sender. Once work was over, I got on the metro, came to my dorm, and went to the gym.
Wednesday & Thursday: 06/26/24-06/27/24
Networking at its Finest
Wednesday was another day of being up on the 7th floor with the WHHI. Since I don't have a permanent spot, I started at the same location they had put me at on Tuesday, but then a new intern came in, and I had to relocate. The office was really quiet almost all day because all the interns went on a tour of the capitol, I didn't go because I had previously taken a tour. I thought about going, but it was like a 3-hour tour, and I wasn't really up for that. I spent my day in one of the staff member's offices, doing my work and enjoying the outside view the office had. My day went by pretty fast and once I came back we had a meeting with Pat and Virginia to catch up. It was more of a check-in meeting to see how our experience was going and some quick updates about the annual director's meeting. It was great to see the difference between our first-ever meeting to now, it's completely different since we're so used to each other.
I was up and running for an insane amount of time on Thursday, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it felt like 24 hours. On Thursday I started my day at the office working with the Office of Migrant Education (OME). I continued working on the grant competition flyers and putting together the biographies of the panelists and presenters coming to the annual director's meeting. Also, I got to meet Tara in person who is the director for that office, and share more about myself and my goals. CHCI was hosting an intern social after work that we were all required to attend. I invited Javier, who is also an intern, and we met up with everyone else at the reception. The social was great, I connected with a couple of people and I even met 2 other nursing majors. I was shocked when they mentioned they were doing nursing because so far I hadn't come across anyone on the same path. We talked for a while about the things we hope to do, tips and tricks about the HESI, and difficult classes that are coming up. Our day wasn't over after that, Esmeralda had invited us to watch the presidential debate with the United Farm Workers (UFW) office, so we all went there. They had food, which was great, and we watched Biden and Trump go back and forth on each other. After a long day, I finally got back to my room around 11 PM and called it a day.
Friday & Saturday: 06/28/24-06/29/24
Virtual Fridays & Relaxing Saturdays
Most Fridays have turned into virtual days. I get to work from my dorm and I don't have to go to the office. My day began with a Kaffeeklatsch meeting where we talked about weekend plans and the 4th of July coming up. Surprisingly, I didn't have a lot of meetings on Friday, so I got more time to work on my assigned tasks. I continued to work on the grant competition flyers and one other task I was given. Also, I was able to connect with Dylan, a staff member at OME, and I was amazed by his previous work in non-profit organizations. I took the chance to ask him questions, so I could potentially look into doing similar work. Work ended at 5 PM and there wasn't much to do after that, just wait for the weekend.
This weekend, I just stayed in and watched Netflix almost all day. On weekends, I usually wake up late, get my day going, and watch shows. I needed to buy groceries, so I headed over to Columbia Heights for some shopping. After I got what I needed, I stopped by to get some fruit from one of the street vendors. It was delicious, it reminded me of winter break when I go to Mexico. I was regretting going for groceries because I struggled to carry everything back. The bags were heavy, and the metro wouldn't hurry up, so I was getting tired. Once I got on the metro, a crowd of like 50 people got on and there was no space to move. When it got to my stop, it turned out they were all getting off there too, so it was a mess. Everyone was trying to get out at the same time, and the doors almost closed on me. After a stressful grocery run, I finally made it back to my room, unpacked my groceries, and took a nap.
