Community, conscientiousness, and communication. As I reflect back on my first week at CAUSE, I am pleasantly surprised that I can come up with such catchy alliteration to summarize what has stood out to me the most.
CLA interns and CAUSE staff commemorate the last day of their orientation week retreat at CSULB
On the very first day, we recognized that everyone has a different interpretation of what community is and of whom it comprises. What characteristics must a group of people share to be considered as a community? Is a community able to transcend time? There might be a million different answers to these questions, but one thing we found to be inherent to community is that it is non-individualistic—communities require a togetherness that cannot be found elsewhere by oneself. What we do, then, to maintain and foster our relationships with one another must be a deliberate effort if we are to better our communities as a whole.
Interns Gabrielle Shen and Samantha Leong engage in fruitful conversation
Conscientiousness, according to the DISC test, is one of four primary personality traits that a person can exhibit. The others are dominance, influence, and steadiness, and I was one of two people in my cohort that scored comparably high in conscientiousness. Having a C-type personality style means that I am often hypercritical of my work and have a habit of being over-analytical in group settings. But, coming to terms with these facts allowed me to recognize the ways in which I can work best with others and bring out our full potential as a collective. I realized that taking my place in this community means that I no longer need to do things alone—leaning on others is also a conscientious choice, and everyone was chosen to be here for a reason (begone imposter syndrome)!
Lastly, communication was highly stressed during this weeks’ activities, both within our cohort and as an essential outreach tool. Communicating correct data to the public and policymakers was at the forefront of our time in Farrah’s impactful redistricting workshop, as well as with NHPI Data Policy Lab’s Calvin Chang. Thus, the importance of communication was wholly ingrained within this weeks’ various lessons, and ultimately, I hope I am able to effectively communicate how grateful I am for the community we have so quickly been able to build together.
CAUSE Senior Communications Manager Farrah Su presenting a workshop on redistricting
Honorable mention “C” words: Campaigns, Contentment, Cohort, Coby and the Program [C]oordinators!
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.