This week at CAUSE has been quite interesting and honestly, a bit stressful. On Monday, July 18th, the cohort received further instructions on how to plan for our fundraising/endorsement event the following Monday, July 25th. As a team, we were already a bit behind meeting our previous deadlines so this only left us with a couple of hours to figure out the details of the event, such as food, decorations, etc. We were in a time crunch.
During this event planning process I have learned a lot more about how our cohort operates. Throughout the process of brainstorming ideas we would often get caught up on small miniscule details and overthink many of our decisions, which is just a result of our determination and desire to execute this event flawlessly. Although the planning of this event has been a little bit stressful and overwhelming, I am sure the outcome will be absolutely worth it!
On Friday, July 22nd, we had the opportunity to visit the West Covina City Hall, talk to some of the council members and a staffer for an assemblymember, tour the West Covina Police Department and receive a tour of the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Center. During our panel with the West Covina council members we were able to hear from two council members with two very drastically different political opinions. I thought this session was incredibly insightful in regards to showing us how to navigate political differences in the workplace. This session taught me how to calmly handle a political difference between two colleagues and the fact that you can come from two completely different ideologies but still have the same goal and intention to serve the community.
I thought it was also refreshing to hear from a few folks that do not share the same political opinions as me. In regards to the cohort we all relatively come from the same political ideology so it’s easy to forget that a great portion of individuals do not share the same ideas that we hold. I do not often have the opportunity to hear from someone who has differing political opinions and I recognize the importance of hearing the other side out. Denaee, District Representative for assembly member Blanca E. Rubio expressed that “[she] does not want to be so [polarized] that she can’t even hear the other side out” and I thought that this line of thinking is incredibly important especially at a time when the nation is so divided.
We also had the opportunity to attend the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Center which is a community center that has about 30 different programs ranging from a youth camp to an adult day care. Visiting this center has honestly been my favorite part of CAUSE up to this point. It was incredibly heartwarming and wholesome to interact with the little kids from Camp Chibiko and visiting the center has reassured me of the need to develop personal relationships from members of the community.