Reflections on My NMSHSA Internship: A Journey of Growth, Community, and Exploration in Washington, D.C.
To start off I want to say I am both sad and grateful to be writing this blog as my time interning with NMSHSA is ending so soon, one more week! As a farm girl, I would like to announce that I would definitely move to Washington DC. The city has grown on me, compared to when I first arrived, I felt like it was too fast-paced of an environment for me. There have been so many incredible moments with my time here. One memorable time at UnidosUS occurred in Los Angeles, California during the Education Summit. I spoke with two passionate individuals, Alan Flores, Post-Secondary Access Coordinator, and Luci Diego, Youth Support Specialist at Centro Hispano de East Tennessee. They told me about their mission to see Latinos in East Tennessee thrive culturally, educationally, and economically. They brought four of their high school students who they work with to speak at a session. This inspired me to continue advocating for the Latino community and learn more from UnidosUS.
Moving forward, a wholesome moment during the NMSHSA internship was when we had a team dinner at Founding Farmers. I had the opportunity to learn more about everyone, not just their professional lives but also who they are personally, and we all found connections with each other that were built from team dinners, Friday forum, and, one-to-one check-ins. Janna shared her life advice and experiences with me, which cleared up several questions that were clouding my mind. After dinner, our walk back to our hotel through Chinatown was adventurous and full of laughs while we enjoyed the night scenery. Lastly, a moment that describes my summer in Washington DC is when I biked around the National mall at night, the large monuments were beautifully lit and my first time riding a bike in years, I felt so free. This was a summer of saying yes to any opportunity that would come up, (thank you to Rob’s advice) and taking in the history and art of the capital of the United States.