See you later, Andres the Alligator

For our second to last programming day, my CIP group was assigned to present on Education and a bill we curated that makes education more accessible for all. I may be biased, but I would say our group had the best presentation because by then everyone knew each other, and it was just a super engaging discussion. In our bill proposal, we included things like extending the Pell Grant and lowering tuition costs, amongst other things. 

Wednesday

On Wednesday, my fellow interns from LULAC and had the great privilege to visit Mickey Ibarra's home. Here, we discussed what it’s like to be Latino in Washington D.C. and how much of an impact Latinos have in politics. It was truly such an incredible experience and a pleasure to meet him as he was the right hand man of President Clinton during his time in office. 

Thursday

The following day, July 31st  was mine and Angel's last day in the office which totally crept up on us. It felt like any other day, we had a decent amount of work since we were preparing for LULAC’s national convention in Long Beach. By the time we clocked out, it felt as if we were going to return tomorrow but then it hit us--this was it, at least for now. We were so used to our routine and so used to coming back to the office that we forgot to just take a step back and really soak in our final moments in office.

Friday

Our last day of any responsibilities or scheduled plans was August 1st, which the HEPCAMP interns spent with our CHCI fam. We spent the majority of the day saying our final in-person goodbyes, talking about what’s next, and how we can all stay connected. Although it was nice that we were all done, it was sad to say goodbye to all the countless friends we made. My peeps, if you all reading this know I miss you guys and can’t wait until the day we are able to reconnect. I still can’t believe to this day that I was surrounded by such amazing, intelligent, and genuine young leaders. Later that night when the majority of us were finished packing, we walked the monuments to make some of our final memories together. I was told by a past CAMP intern that putting your feet up on the Washington monument was a trippy experience, so you know I had to keep the tradition going and put my feet up. It was truly the best way to say see you later D.C.

Saturday

Saturday was departure day. Some of the interns left before others but my departure group included Lesly, Ivette, and Jaquelin. One of the many things I kept saying to myself as I was coming to D.C. was “I’m not going to believe it till I’m there.” Now as I was heading home, I kept on thinking “I’m not going to believe it’s over until I’m home.” This whole experience was a blessing and I couldn’t be more thankful, everything was smooth sailing and I actually wasn’t done with work but was done with the HEPCAMP internship. 

Arriving at Portland International Airport (PDX), I was greeted by most of my family and surprised by my girlfriend. The one thing I’m not going to miss from D.C. is the swampy weather that makes you sweat in an instant, and the taste of D.C.'s tap water. The first thing I did when I arrived back home was roll all the windows down to breathe in the fresh Oregon air and drank so many cups of tap water. I felt like those succulents after you dip them in water and they become happy again, but I was already happy and just felt refreshed to be back home. To follow the surprises, my girlfriend made an amazing fruit cheesecake tart that was so delicious and well worth the wait. For the three days I was home, I spent time with my family while I could and ate a lot of Mexican food. Why you may ask? Well because there is literally zero Mexican food in D.C., and the food you could find there was way overpriced.

That was my D.C. experience. Thank you for tagging along and for supporting me along the way. I say see you later because goodbye is for when you’ll never see each other again… Later!

For the next adventure we have The LULAC National Convention 2025!!