These last two months working in the office of Senator Durr and Assemblywoman McCarthy-Patrick have been nothing short of uneventful. I began my internship right after school was out in June with the office of Senator Durr. During my month stay, I mostly highlighted bills and called constituents for unemployment cases. One of my main concerns was unemployment in my town and I realized that is all the office dealt with. I had a small corner desk in the hallway and floated around the office for an available computer whenever needed. My place in the corner allowed me to thoroughly observe and listen-in on all the daily dealings and work. I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to work with the office of Senator Durr because I got to see constituent work which is something I was interested in prior to starting. From answering constituent calls and reading their emails which expressed a variety of concerns they had, it made me more aware of different issues. The majority of the calls we got were from the elderly population who either wanted to express legislative ideas or needed help filing for unemployment. A lot of senior citizens were not able to fill out the online unemployment application because they did not have a smartphone, computer, or printer to fax. My job was to call these constituents and ask if their unemployment case was resolved. Working with them allowed me to pull out of my bubble and understand the daily struggles of New Jersey residents in my county.
Just as quickly as my internship started it came to end when I moved to the office of Assemblywoman McCarthy-Patrick. My commute went from an hour to about 15 minutes which I was extremely grateful for. There are only two employees working in the office so I got a desk in the front with a computer this time which was exciting. My work here was vastly different to my previous internship. I have spent the last three weeks making flyers and sending emails to inform other legislators about the move. Most recently, I made a flyer for a food drive that will have school supplies and backpacks which will be sponsored by Jack and Melinda Ciatterelli. I am really excited about this event because it is in my town and I realize what kind of impact it will have.
This week’s theme for the speakership series was advocacy. I heard from four speakers but Nina Verghese specifically stood out to me because I really understood and enjoyed what she had to say. Her work was very inspirational to me because she sounded so dedicated to the causes she worked for. The anecdote she told us about airlines showed me that she was willing to get involved with the community to get real work done and it showed me that advocacy work might be something that I could pursue. I am so thankful that I decided to apply to NJ Lead because without the program all of this would not be possible. I am so grateful that I not only got an opportunity to intern but to also listen to incredible speakers each week. Meeting the other fellows was also great because I am excited to see the impact all of these people will have on New Jersey politics.