Fireflies are replaced by falling leaves in every color of the rainbow. The warm air that wrapped you like a blanket every time you stepped outside, now takes leave for a refreshing cold crispness that wakes you up and gets you ready for the day. This fall I have the privilege to return to the city I have called home since early summer when I started interning here. Working in this city is something different. You are filling one set of busy shoes out of countless others hitting the pavement every hour of every day. A people driven by the promise of change and progress. I...
I’m currently interning at HIPS: Honoring Individuals Power and Strength a nonprofit organization that serves the underserved population in the DC metropolitan area focusing on harm reduction and the sex trade. As a direct service intern, my role is to assist drug users and sex laborers by providing syringe exchange, condom distribution, and overdose prevention supplies via outreach vans and drop-in centers. Through my experience working with HIPS, I have come to an understanding that the concept of “professionalism” varies from company to company. There is no concrete...
On my first day in D.C., I cried myself to sleep. Being thousands of miles from home, where I did not know anyone and did not have a secured internship, was overwhelming.
Since then, however, everything has settled into place. For the past few weeks, I have been working as a Legislative Intern in the Office of Congressman Mark Takano. Being on the Hill has been an unbelievable experience. When Congress was in session, bumping into Congress members left and right was inevitable. In the office, some of the responsibilities I work on include...
People tell you that as you get older the years go by faster. I have found that as I worked harder over the years, and the opportunities added up, my years felt longer—so many more experiences in so little time. The growth I experienced in my first year at Berkeley was unlike any other year before, and now my time in the UCDC program has raised that bar. My final work before parting ways was as fulfilling as ever; exploring how people can improve upon their self-actualization through intrinsic motivation shaped by policy, incentives, and most importantly, themselves...
Since coming to Washington D.C., I have been extremely busy—but in the best way! As an intern with the Public Defender’s Service, I have been immersed in criminal defense investigations, trial preparation, and post-trial sentencing. Not only have I had access to the guidance of law clerks, investigators, and attorneys, but I have been entrusted with casework that directly impacts the lives of our clients. My internship experience continues to teach me the importance of having zealous advocates for indigent clients in the criminal justice system.
As I closed the zipper of my last suitcase, I could not believe that my adventures in Washington DC were coming to an end. Spending an entire semester in Washington DC was not only a dream come true, but a transformative and fulfilling experience. I deeply enjoyed having the opportunity to both intern full-time at the Urban Libraries Council (ULC), and take classes in subjects I had not taken before, such as international affairs and humanitarian aid efforts. Being able to attend networking events that further broadened my exposure to different careers in public service was...
My last few weeks in Washington, DC were full of uncertainty but I left with a few opportunities to consider in the future. Being in D.C. exposed me to unlimited possibilities, and the city itself was refreshing to live in for almost four months. I really enjoyed having access to free public transportation. It was very easy and simple to navigate the city with the help of Google maps of course.
Interning at HIPS this fall was an eye opening experience that taught me what I do and do not want to do in my future career. At the same time, being in...
Being back in sunny California, I still have not fully processed that my time on Capitol Hill and in D.C. have concluded. Looking back, it was a bitter-sweet ending. On one hand, I desperately missed California’s weather, the diversity, the food, and of course, my friends and family. Yet, it was difficult accepting I would not be seeing my new friends every day, stepping foot on Capitol Hill (for a while at least), spontaneously visiting nearby states, or riding the subway.
Being three-thousand miles from home was initially very daunting. It...
Being a deferred transfer, coming to Washington DC, and having the opportunity to work and live here has been an incredible and still unbelievable experience. At the American Enterprise Institute, I work in the development department, which means I get to work on the business and fundraising side of the think tank world, something I knew very little about prior to coming here. In my role, I research donors and their work which allows my department to fundraise and reach out to donors as efficiently as possible, and to enable AEI to continue in the work they're doing in both...
Taking part in the UCDC program was one of my main goals for my academic career since the first day I transferred to UC Berkeley. Public service is a field I have been interested in for a long time, but due to my circumstances I did not have the opportunity to be in that environment, therefore UCDC was the perfect program because I would be able to continue in my academic work while simultaneously getting the government experience I’ve been looking for. I wanted nothing more than to have an internship on the hill and to my surprise that was much easier said than done. I began to...