Sacramento — the hub of contrasting political agendas and the location of a less-than-48 hour adventure!
Being a first-time visitor to the city, I did not know what to expect, other than the inevitable heat and the fact that Sacramento's residential population is government affiliated. It was a pleasant surprise to watch the cable cars scurrying around the city, the walkability to each destination, and feel the wind as we walked, cooling us down from the blazing sun. It was also awe-inspiring to learn that the different types of trees throughout California were planted there, as well as see the interior architecture of the halls and the Assembly floor.
When we arrived at the Capitol, we spoke to four CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) alums who now work there. It made me reflect on my own professional journey and how I wanted to dedicate my own career in public service. Though I have always known since I was a child that I wanted to be involved in government, politics, and/or law, most recently I’ve been exploring ways I want to be involved in that industry. As a Public Policy major, I enjoy the process of researching and implementing policy and how certain solutions have different impacts on varying communities. When talking to the CLA alumni who now are Assembly Fellows and Legislative Directors, the idea of authoring and working directly with representatives seemed like an option I should consider as a career choice. While I also want to explore other ways of working in the legislative process, listening to them was helpful and insightful.
The following day, we were able to listen to two Chief of Staffs: Sophia Kwang Kim and Jessica Duong for CA State Assemblymember Mike Fong and Phil Ting, respectively. The part of this panel that stuck out to me was how oftentimes, they brief their Assemblymember on a policy right before an important meeting in an elevator. Having worked a few policy briefs during my time interning this summer at Rep. Judy Chu’s district office, my supervisor stressed the importance of making the memo no longer than two pages. Though brief, I realized how thoroughly each staff member must understand a policy to condense and verbalize all information in just a few minutes. It was even more impressive to learn that that thousands of policy gets introduced every session, and that every single bill must be collectively well-researched by the staff members.
I’m so grateful to have this opportunity to travel to Sacramento for the first time with CAUSE. In addition to the tasty Asian cuisines, exploring different career paths through the shoes of current staff members to Assemblymembers was an experience I’ll never forget.
