Week 7- Dome, Sunset, Symphony, Boom!

Friday, July 4, 2025 🎤❤️🎸💙🎶🤍

Friday was Independence Day. As a first-generation Latina, I celebrate this day because being here has provided me with many opportunities to learn, grow, and give back to my community. Both of my parents came here in the early 2000s because they knew that this was the land of opportunity.

Here I am standing.

In the middle of the District.

The place where policies are made.

The place where voices come together to make change.

As Capitol Hill Interns, we had special seating for the concert on the 4th of July. The HEPCAMP group decided to go early to get good seating, so we took the metro to Capitol South and made our way to our gates. It was a hot sunny day, so when we got there, some of us stayed in the shade while the others went into the middle (where there was no one) to reserve the seating for all of us. Since it was very early, half of us went to get some snacks (pizza) in the meantime. At that time, I was facing the Capitol. I muted the sounds surrounding me as I admired the Capitol. That's when it hit me. It was my first time spending this day away from my family. I got a wave of emotion, and my sight began to blur. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked around me. My friends had made it back from their quick snack run. We sat down on our blanket surrounding the pizza box and looked as the sun was setting in the distance.

July 4, 2025- Taking a photo in front of The Capitol before the concert

Once the sun was almost gone, that's when the cameras went live. The concert had just begun, and the crowd went silent. We heard a whole lot of artists, and the night couldn't have ended better. In the back of my mind hovered the idea that the nation's residents, especially people of color, are scared to go out. I looked at the distance, which was not that far from me. In the faces of the people surrounding me, my CAMP friends, and my CAMP familia, I saw hope in the future--I saw the power of change. I know that each of us is unique, and I know the difference my fellow inters are making in their placement offices. I am excited for what the future holds because I know we will make a change for the best!

July 4, 2025- Fourth of July Concert

As the concert was coming to an end, I saw the fireworks go up in the sky. That's when it hit me again--that wave of emotion struck me like a brick this time, hard. At that moment I grabbed my phone and video called my family. Thousands of miles away, with a 3-hour time difference, I gave them a sense of travel through my screen to our nation's capital to see the fireworks and the beautiful Capitol building. A tear dropped.

Friday, July 11, 2025 🔬🥽⋆˚⋆. ⌬ ˚ ⚛ 🧪 𒉭 ⋆˚⋆

It was another regular week of work. Batching, phone calls, people coming in and taking a meeting, a famous person walking across our office. Oh...wait, famous person? I get that we work at one of the House office buildings, but we were on the 4th floor of the 3-office building. It's rare to see someone famous. While I was working at the front desk, I heard one of my co-worker interns exclaim, "Oh wait, didn't Billy just walk by?"

July 12, 2025- Batching emails

I glare at him, "Billy?" 🤨

"Yeah, that one science dude."

I looked outside to the hall and saw a crowd of interns. I took a peek, and then I saw him: Bill Nye the Science Guy. I called my bestie, office partner Percilliana, to come with me to take a picture with him, and we ran. He was in a bit of a rush so we took a quick selfie.

July 11, 2025- (left to right) Bill Nye, Percilliana, and Ivette taking a selfie.

Saturday, July 12, 2025 ⋆⁺₊✩🩹🩸 ₊˚.💉⋆⁺₊✧

*TW!!*

Today I woke up early because I had an appointment with the Red Cross. Every month, I make it a goal to donate blood or platelets. For blood donations, it normally takes about 30 minutes for them to prep you and then the donation process begins. However, for platelets it takes around 3 hours, because the process not only involves taking whole blood cells out of your system, but also cycling your blood through the machine to separate the platelets from the blood cells and returning only the whole blood cells back into your system. Since my veins are really weak, I was only going to be giving and receiving from one arm (normally it's from both; blood out from one arm, and back into the other.)

I hate hospitals. Every time I walk into a hospital, I get this wave a sadness. As a little girl, I got very sick with the wires that were hanging from my arms, the bags that were hanging from the little hanger that I had to carry around all the time. I hated it. But moments like these, I look back, and realize that my current state of health is thanks to the people who gave blood for me to be able to survive. Now that I am older and healthier, I have the power to give blood to someone in need. That is what I hope to do for as long as I am healthy and alive.

Best wishes,

Ivette Alonso Garcia