By Imani Lee, 2025 CLA Intern
After spending this past Thursday and Friday in Sacramento, California alongside the CAUSE team, my horizons have undoubtedly expanded to the intricate world that is state government. Directly from the airport, the CAUSE interns and leads made our way to the California State Capitol building where we attended one of the final legislative meetings of this term. Many assemblymembers and state senators were present, giving us the opportunity to meet Assemblymember Caloza, Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, Assemblymember Fong, and State Senator Reneé-Perez. One surprising takeaway from our visit to the Assembly Chamber was the procedural aspect of voting on bills. I had a challenging time allocating power to each individual assemblymember as they simply pressed either red or green in opposition to or support of each bill. Even when certain assemblymembers provided spoken testimony to advocate for or against different bills, at least in this session, those speeches seemed to make minimal impact. From an audience perspective, each assemblymember seemed to have already made a decision regarding each bill. When the time came, they did not have to put too much thought into their vote and likely ended up voting as the majority. After this incredibly unique experience, we attended an intern mixer with APAPA and APICA, and sat in on two different guest speaker panels. I had a very fun time mingling with other college students at the mixer, having gained valuable connections that I am sure to utilize in my future career in the political space. I learned the importance of networking, as you may never know which one of your friends will be the next president!
At the speaker panels, I made sure to ask a lot of questions about the roles of legislative aides, directors, and chiefs of staff. I have gained much knowledge about these positions, providing me with even more clarity as I begin to consider possible pathways to pursue after I graduate college. Again, I made some genuine connections with some individuals who are much further ahead of me in this field who can provide great insight, wisdom, and advice as I navigate the post-grad playing field.
This trip was definitely exhausting but also a ton of fun. Eating hot pot with the interns, hanging out in our hotel rooms, grabbing coffee at aesthetic cafes, and navigating the airports at 4 a.m. are all additional memories from this trip that I will never forget. Being able to bond even further with this awesome cohort has been such a blessing, especially while learning about the political atmosphere at the state capitol through firsthand experiences. This trip has been by far my favorite experience with CAUSE yet, and I am grateful for this opportunity to see our local advocacy in action at the state level.