Adiós!
Man, oh man has the time gone by quickly! It feels like it was yesterday I was calling Ilda our program manager panicking because I couldn’t figure out how to download my boarding pass for my flight to DC the night before I flew here. One of my favorite memories while being in DC has to be my first weekend in the city. It was a Friday night and we had just finished up dinner after the all-day events with the NMSHSA team and MSHS directors and staff. I decided that after dinner, it was a nice peaceful night, and I really wanted to scooter around Pennsylvania Ave and see all the different monuments, especially The White House. I rode for a while–so long that I had a forty-seven dollar charge on my account when I was done (Cleo, and Ilda were not happy to hear about that). I just remember saying “wow, I am really here, I’m in front of the White House!” It was such a surreal moment I face-timed my mom and friends back home just to brag to them that I was really there!
Interning with the United Farm Workers Policy and Legislative team has brought me so much new experience and knowledge. My favorite memory working with the UFW was my first meeting on the Hill, where I got to lobby for a heat bill the UFW is trying to get passed in the House of Representatives. I got to speak one-on-one with a legislative staffer in a Representative’s office and show off my lobbying skills. With guidance by the UFW, I got to share my family's story working in the fields and in agriculture to relate to the bill. It was an amazing new experience, and it struck a new career interest in becoming a political lobbyist. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll run for congressional office, or even the presidency. Anything is possible!
And last but certainly not least, my NMSHSA family; thank you for providing me the opportunity to do this internship and grow, not just as a college student chasing a degree and career, but also as a person and an individual. I will be leaving DC with a new perspective on life. I'll never forget the trip to New York. Stepping out of the Amtrak station and smelling that New York pizza smell, and hearing all the different sounds buzzing off the tall skyscrapers, looking up and seeing Madison Square Garden where many iconic figures have played or performed– it was truly a sight to see. I'll never forget my first New York style cheese pizza, the inner kid in me who watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles his whole life came out. Where I come from, people only dream of going to New York. I’ll never forget that experience, and I look forward to seeing the growth of the NMSHSA internship program incoming interns in the future.