This week at my placement with Senator Ben Allen, represented the midpoint of this program and my time with CAUSE and the district office. I’m more comfortable with the routine, but I felt stagnant. My workload was fine, but I felt that I hadn’t connected enough to my office in the past few weeks and I wanted to rectify that. I went back and checked our handy CLA Intern Handbook which had advice on how to better network. One of the most memorable things that it mentioned was taking initiative, a skill that needed to be developed. Throughout high school and my early college education, I could put my head down and just work, which would give me results. However, to truly succeed, I quickly learned that I needed to go to office hours, organize study sessions with peers, and most importantly keep asking questions. My experience taught me the importance of being proactive, going out of my way to talk and collaborate with others.
CLA Interns at an event for Congressman Jimmy Gomez.
Working at the office was a new experience for me, everyone is dealing with their own projects, and immersed in their own worlds. I needed to borrow from my undergraduate experience and take initiative again. When I finally mustered up the courage, I decided to ask to get coffee with my fellow intern Rachel, and our supervisor, Rad. Unfortunately, he was out sick the first time I asked him, and this coffee meeting was delayed. I fell into a lull of work forgetting to ask again, but through persistence, we finally managed to get a meeting at the local coffee shop next to the office. Another staffer Jake tagged along with us, and we had a heartfelt discussion over coffee where we asked for career advice. My main focus was on how they found careers and work after graduation, and Rachel got insight into work on Capitol Hill. Rad and Jake are in the early beginnings of their career, and being fellow alumni from UCLA and USC, meant Rachel and I were able to pick at their brains and past experiences. It was a great experience, and most importantly I gained confidence.
CLA Interns at Congressman Jimmy Gomez’s Town Hall.
I then asked Samuel, the district officer for lunch, and he offered to treat us to a special pre-ordered Banh Mi place that had recently gone viral on Tik Tok. As we sat at a large communal table, we each ate chicken and meatball pork Banh Mis and talked. This time we went over the stories of multiple staffers, who each offered their own explanation of their career and how they had gotten to the district office. Some talked about their goals to go to law school, and their other aspirations. Samuel actually had gone to law school previously and he gave me fruitful advice on choosing a potential career in law. Overall, it was a great experience and besides the career advice, the most important thing was that I learned it’s up to me to take initiative. I can’t just put my head down, and ignore my fellow peers or coworkers. Rad and Jake echoed CAUSE when they stated that an important part of getting hired post-grad in the political space was knowing people. Through CAUSE’s lessons and practice at networking events, I’m more confident in my ability to network, reach out, and build relationships at the office.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by William Chao, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.