My first commute to the CAUSE office in Little Tokyo was filled with nervousness. During the 20-minute ride, I was straightening my jacket and tucking in my blouse continuously, feeling so uneasy. It did not help that I was not from the area; I was nervous to meet new people in a city that I was a stranger to, and more importantly about making the most of this unique opportunity that initially felt out of reach.
However, these nerves were very quickly put to rest during orientation week, spending the entire week with my cohort. From discussing our personal histories and important facets of our identities to adventures and late-night talks in Long Beach, it became incredibly easy to be with this crowd.
My dear cohort and I truly experienced and accomplished a lot together. We had difficult conversations about our beliefs, strenuously worked together in our campaign teams for election day at the Summer Soirée, listened to all of the wonderful speakers and API leaders out in the field who embodied many of our hopes of advocacy throughout our sessions, and more—yet in doing so, nothing ever felt exhausting. I was just happy to be with them all the time, and with my mindset that I wanted to make the most of CLA, I felt welcome to explore API advocacy with people who had similar values as me. For such a packed program with challenging conversations, I felt weirdly at ease and like I belonged; the nerves of my first day gone, and I was left feeling certain that I was meant to be here.
As for my host office, I appreciated the agency I was endowed with to make the most of my experience. From the more mundane tasks like reporting hundreds of street clean-ups or making certifications, to the more unique experiences of working on housing cases and directly speaking with constituents, or staffing the Councilwoman Heather Hutt to cultural events, I was entrusted with the ability to make small but meaningful differences that add up to all of the work of the CD10 office. Moreover, I was thankful to have gained a new understanding of the Korean-American community and Korean diaspora, and the opportunity to leverage my skills in Korean; mostly growing up in Korea, I never knew the power and utility of my Korean language skills, so this experience more broadly gave me a new sense of passion for language accessibility advocacy as well.
Reflecting on all of this, it was incredibly hard to wholly and clearly elaborate my appreciation for the program when speaking at graduation for 2 minutes, looking at the audience of my peers, staff, and friends of CAUSE. Similarly, this blog post is far too short to truly encapsulate all that I felt and all that I learned throughout these last 9 weeks—but I hope to make up for this by continuing to remind everyone who has invested in me and formed relationships with me this summer how much their time meant to me, and how I will cherish all of the wonderful memories and carry with me all that I have learned wherever I am headed next.
To the next class of CLA: come to the experience with intent and an open heart to hear and learn about people. It makes all the difference, and it will truly put you at ease.
To my dear cohort and the CAUSE team, thank you.
CLA Class of 2024 and Intern Eliana Kim, over and out!