By Kayla Mar, 2026 CLA Intern
My CLA experience can be summed up in one word: restorative.
Eleven people restored my faith in community. After nine short weeks, our time comes to a close. It feels abrupt. I look around at my eleven new friends. It’s funny to call them new, because it feels like I’ve known them for a lifetime. I am continuously amazed by everybody’s drive, passion, intellect, and talent. It’s hard to articulate just how regenerative these eleven people have been for me, what I imagine for myself, and what I believe in. Coming into CLA, I was apprehensive about the kind of people who would be attracted to this program: individualistic, cutthroat, competitive to a fault. This cohort quickly quelled my fears. I was met with the eleven kindest, most community-minded people I could have possibly met. In a time where individualism is killing community, I found myself among folks who commit to community everyday.
LA County restored my belief in government. I did not realize how disillusioned I was with government until I stepped right back in. It’s cool to swing around an official government badge and have tap access to exclusive doors, but the magic of working for institutions of immense power that have minimally improved – and more often decreased – the majority’s quality of life was worn down long ago. It appeared I closed off the option of government as a legitimate means of making substantial change – as if many people on the “inside” of institutions are not also there to make government work for their communities. With all of its flaws, LA County ironically restored my belief in government – or more the belief that here, I can make substantial change. With all of its flaws, LA County continues to deliver a staggering array of services to a massive constituency. With all of its flaws, LA County can pass progressive policies that other levels of government couldn’t dream of feasibly passing. LA County inspires me to believe in a government that I want to see: one that serves its constituents, one that holistically addresses issues, one that listens and acts accordingly.
The future restored my motivation. People and institutions altogether, I am excited for what awaits for all of us in the future. Our political climate has a way of demoralizing, demotivating, devaluing decades of social justice work. Yet every CLA session, I walked into the office with genuine joy to talk about politics and progressive horizons with my fellow cohort mates. I know that each and every one of the people I have had the privilege of becoming friends with these past nine weeks will go on to do such remarkable things and be the vanguard of changemaking. Rather than looking ahead at the future with dread and fear, I now look forward with reinvigorated motivation and excited anticipation. And I know the folks I met along the way will be right beside me.
Goodbyes are hard, but I know for the 2026 CLA cohort, it’s just a see you later.
