Week 8 - Elevating farm worker voices

Wednesday

A Dream

Today marked the beginning of my advocacy. As previously mentioned, I was working on a press release. I was given the opportunity to speak on behalf of United Farm Workers at a press release, where Alex Padilla, Judy Chu, and many other passionate individuals would be at. Before this, I was practicing my testimony for the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness Fatality and Prevention Act. My testimony consisted of giving my farm work experience and emphasizing the importance of heat protection. I was practicing my testimony for weeks. My co-intern, Hannia, probably memorized my whole testimony by the number of times she would hear it. It felt unreal that I was going to be given a chance to share my story. I could not believe it. I was nervous the day I was going to share my testimony. In fact, I went into the elevator and I pressed the floor that I was on. It was so embarrassing because the lady was like, "This is the ground floor." That's how you know the nerves got to me.

When it was about time to head over, I started feeling less nervous. A lady who was there tried to encourage me when she found out I was speaking. That did not help because it made me feel even more nervous. When I started hearing the members of Congress speak, I calmed down. The words they were saying spoke to me. The stories that were shared were truly inspiring. When it was my turn to talk, I did not falter. I spoke with so much passion and emotion. Feeling upset and angry for outdoor workers fueled my voice.

Something even more amazing was that I saw more than half of my peers there. I can't believe most of them came and cheered me on. I felt so grateful! Even the CHCI program staffer Arianna came. They made me feel more comfortable speaking. It was funny because they made up most of the press population.

Also, my CHCI peers had a celebration dinner for me.

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Thursday

Foodie

NVG, where I am stationed, ordered us lunch. The lunch looked so good. I got a cheesesteak and some fries. The cheesesteak was okay. There were no vegetables in it, which made it less flavorful. The fries and the dip were good. At the end of our meal, Giev came to talk to us. Giev is a past UFW employee. He was giving us advice on what we wanted to pursue. It was good talking to someone who has experience in policy and has a lot of information regarding the interest I want to pursue.

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Saturday

A Busy Bee..

Today I hung out with a friend whom I met at a networking event, Josahandy. We met up at Eastern Market, where we were looking for cute jewelry. I did not want to spend money today because I had spent a lot of money yesterday. We went around and looked at the vintage clothes, food, and art. My pocket was doing well until I came across a jewelry seller who was selling jewelry from Mexico. He was speaking to us in Spanish, and he was friendly. I caved and I bought something. The jewelry was too cute to resist. I am glad I bought my ring even though it was pricey.

After the Eastern Market, we headed to eat at a Mexican restaurant. It's so funny because I was just talking to my mom the other day about how I have been craving good Mexican food. I miss my mom's food. I ended up getting tasty carne asada. Although it does not compare to back home. From there, we headed over to the Washington National Cathedral. I was in awe of the glass paintings. It was so beautiful. I am glad we went there because I was so full from the food; I needed to walk. We found out that there was a cafe nearby and we headed there. I was so shocked to see two people from CHCI. It was funny because they were also at the Cathedral.