Participants:
Grant – Intern
Janet - Deputy Intern Supervisor and Caseworker
Karen - Fieldworker
Charlene - Intern
Joe - Intern
Megan - Intern
Samera - Intern
Overview of Topics Covered:
Grant Li discusses his first few weeks of his internship at the district office of Congressman Ted Lieu in CA-36. He recounts his interactions with staff members and fellow interns, experiences in the field, and reflections on helping with constituent casework.
CLA interns enjoy an activity together
Key Points:
1. First impressions
My first day was on a Wednesday, which meant I was lucky enough to meet all of my fellow interns together: Joe, a smooth-talking former-star linebacker; Charlene, a bubbly and excitable fellow UCLA Bruin; Megan, an energetic D.C. resident always ready to share her never-ending personal lore; and Samera, who can talk for hours about the latest episode of Love Island. They quickly helped me get through my nervousness, adding me to an intern group chat and walking me through the office basics–how to use the printer, when to best take your lunch break, which staff members assigned the most work.
These interns set the tone for the rest of the office: when I came in, the staffers were gathered around a table, trying to divvy up a pile of leftover snacks from their retreat the day before. I realized that my ideas of a congressional office–business professional, Excel spreadsheets, and lifeless meetings–was a far cry from the energy and liveliness of this district office and its employees. My intern supervisor, Janet, showed me the basics of how to use the office computers and assigned me my first project, to write biographies for an event memo, but I learned more about the office by talking about Star Trek with the district director and sharing memes with the interns on Microsoft Teams.
2. Out in the field
I quickly learned that one of the perks of working for a congressman’s district office is being invited to a lot of local events–many of which happen to have free goodies for their participants. The Tuesday of my second week at the office, I had the opportunity to tag along with Karen, a fieldworker, to a meeting with the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to discuss policy and legislation. My role was to take notes on the presentations of the cities that were in our district, and I took this seriously: scribbling away at my notepad and typing up a memo afterward. Towards the end of the meeting, a staff member went around the room and handed us bags of merchandise–mugs, pens, even a large poster of the South Bay.
After the meeting concluded and the goodie bag was acquired, I awkwardly stood by the refreshments table while the legislative staffers made small talk with each other. One of the meeting members approached me mid-bite into a bagel and asked me who I was before handing me his business card. It wasn’t until I glanced at the card later that I realized who he was: a Japanese American councilmember of a local city and chair of the council of governments. Seeing Asian American elected officials in prominent positions on the local level was an inspiring experience to supplement the CLA program.
Intern Grant Li with a fellow intern at Congressman Ted Lieu’s office
3. Engaging with constituents
The first phone call I took was with a 70-year-old veteran phoning in to ask for help for a friend facing imminent homelessness. I stayed on the call for 20 minutes, offering my stuttering consolations, before directing the call to a caseworker in charge of veterans’ affairs. Throughout the day, I overheard my fellow interns on the phone dealing with immigration application requests and tax form inquiries with empathy, grace, and calm.
After that work day, I sat in my car and called my mom, telling her stories about these callers and their whirlwind of needs, opinions, and backgrounds. When I told her about doing visa application casework for a Chinese immigrant constituent, she said, “That would have been helpful to know when your aunt was waiting for years to re-enter the country.”
I took this in. As Asian Americans, so many members of our community are distrustful of government and ignored by our representatives–yet they are the very people who are in the most need of government services. My aunt was never told about the assistance she could receive by calling her local representative’s district office. Even if she did, would she have been able to make herself understood as a non-native English speaker? Despite these services being in place, countless barriers still stand between our communities and true access.
Yet, I feel more hopeful about the future of our community as more and more of us– young professionals entering these spaces for the first time–gain awareness of the system and diffuse this knowledge throughout our families and friends. I’ve been telling everyone I know about calling their representative’s office for help with immigration, welfare, and taxes. If the system is in place to exclude our communities from these services, our job is to force our way in regardless.
2024 CLA interns pose with AJSOCAL staff
Action Items:
Attend as many events as possible and get as much free swag as I can humanly carry
Persuade our district director, Nico, to roll out the TV so we can have some “background noise” while we work
Meet the Congressman in person in two weeks!
Make Joey Apodaca, deputy district director, do the Brat dance in a video with the other interns
Find out what the Congressman’s middle name is? (The staffers refuse to tell the interns!)
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 Grant Li, Leadership Academy 2024 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.