“Everyone’s getting a rat tomorrow.”
No, the district office of Congresswoman Judy Chu does not actually have a rodent problem, but it has recently been infested with a number of origami, paper rats. Of course, our day-to-day tasks as interns for the Congresswoman include taking calls and messages from constituents, drafting certificates and letters of recognition, and logging the mail our office receives. But, a few times a year, there are events hosted by the office that the entire staff—including interns—have to prepare for.
While I recognize that answering the phone and recording mail is an essential function of our office, it is nice to switch things up for a bit, as stressful or time-critical something may end up being. The Congressional Leadership of the Year Awards were held on July 20th, and nine individuals/community groups from California’s 28th congressional district were honored by the Congresswoman. All hands were on deck for the week leading up to the event, and the interns ended up being put in charge of one key component… the program.
You may be wondering now, what in the world does this have to do with the rats from the beginning? Well, after hours of meticulous editing, abridgement, and formatting, at last it was time to print out the programs. Page after page, printer jam after printer jam, the program finally began to take shape in the cramped, U-shaped intern space. But only after printing and assembling over 100 copies did I realize, Rats. This is the wrong copy of the program. At that point, I had already stayed well past my shift, but I did not feel like I was still at work. With nice company and a shared goal ahead of us, time felt as if it was flying by.
Origami rat made from a scrapped program sitting atop an intern’s computer.
At the moment, printing the wrong programs definitely felt like a huge fail, but it is something I know my fellow interns and I will be able to look back on and laugh about. I realized then that my usual wall of scrupulousness and desire for perfection was replaced by something else entirely. Ultimately, it is okay to make mistakes sometimes, even if it means expending a large amount of ink and paper.
“No crying allowed,” joked one of our supervisors after the whole fiasco took place. We spent the following Saturday celebrating some amazing achievements by members of our community, and rest assured, no tears were shed. But, we did make rats.
Team A sharing a laugh outside of California’s State Capitol Building
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 Gabrielle Shen, 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.