By Ellie Ta, 2025 CLA Intern
During my CLA interview, I had mentioned that I was excited to participate in the Mock Election, specifically interested in working on budget, and I was elated that I actually got that chance.
Deciding which groups could hypothetically donate to our campaign or how many copies of the Tagalog or Chinese Move with Mani brochures to print was only one piece of the puzzle. On the media and communications side of the campaign, I learned how much thought goes into every message the campaign puts out. Creating the media consumed me: before I went to bed I was
still thinking about whether a decorative arrow was going in the right direction, whether the flower I drew for the logo looked wonky, or if the layout of our Soirée posters fell ever so slightly flat without a pop of blue. That all came full circle at the soiree, when Charlie or Board members asked why the tail of the word Lee curved into an arrow. It was oddly satisfying to have an answer ready, and to feel like I’d left a fingerprint on the campaign.
But beyond these details, the Soirée really pulled everything together. Seeing our hard work—both our team’s and Esther’s—come to life, surrounded by friends we’d grown to care about over the last eight weeks, was incredibly rewarding. Unlike the high-pressure, interrogatory endorsement panel, it felt celebratory—music in the background, sharing lumpia, clusters of people laughing between small talk and GOTV conversations. It was surreal to introduce staff from my host office to my CLA friends they’ve heard me talk about for weeks—It was one of those “worlds colliding” moments where separate chapters of my life folded into the same page. What made the night unforgettable was how present community felt. People from all parts of my life were there: folks I knew through other friends, alumni I got to chat with and learn from, and even some who knew my family. It was humbling and inspiring to see how many connections crossed paths in event space.
When Mike Fong announced the winner, it didn’t feel like our campaign team had ‘lost’ per se; just being in a space surrounded by community was a win enough. Even across different campaign teams, we crafted inside jokes, kept each other sane, and cheered for each other’s victories. The mock election taught me a lot about how campaigns function, but more than that, it showed me how much they depend on community—and how the most important people are the ones that help you keep things moving when the pressure’s on.