Since my first day of college, I have always only had a loose sense of purpose and place. Growing up, my safe space was school, even if none of the subjects struck a nerve. The first feeling of true purpose came during my senior year of high school when I became involved in advocacy work. Standing up for my peers and myself in the face of dehumanization was the first time I ever truly found my voice.
This is something I began to explore more as I entered college. Changing my life trajectory from Pre-Med to advocacy two weeks before starting school didn’t leave me with much room to think ahead. Thus, my plan was simple: take advantage of every opportunity, learn everything I can, and see where the stars take me. With my eagerness to learn and get involved, I’d say it worked out well for me, all things considered. But, through all of this, I was missing an end goal, a resting place. Through my classes, I expanded my knowledge of what I was fighting, my experiences informed my ‘why’, but I never found the how or where.
One of my first sessions at the Career Design Center taught me that just saying you want social justice doesn’t nearly speak as loudly as the work you do. Thus, I took advantage of all learning opportunities. While it really sucks doing the grunt work of a campaign or having to take unpaid internships (a privilege I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do), each job is another opportunity to talk to staff, learn about their journey, and the work they do. Through all of this, my heart has always been with community-centered work. To me, there was no career in this, though, or so I thought.
Coming into the SUNY Washington Internship Program, I expected to continue this streak of building my resume to back my general goal of working in social justice. But, leaving this experience, I feel I found my purpose and place.
Since my freshman year, I have been organizing for causes related to reproductive justice. This issue is close to my heart, but it was also not the path I had intended to follow, just one where I would gain experience, which I can use in the niche that I found after college. However, following the Dobbs decision, it was hard for me to even consider leaving it behind. After speaking to a mentor in the field, I found that a path I can follow is organizing for policy in the reproductive justice space. Legislative politics is a field that is paid, and it still has aspects of the work that I love. However, there still felt as though there was something missing.
As I said before, school had been my personal haven growing up, and creating and providing these spaces for kids has always been an issue close to my heart. But I never knew which angle to tackle this problem. While looking for internships for this summer, I found an organization, EducateUS, which works to ensure the implementation of inclusive, comprehensive sex ed in K-12 schools nationwide. Getting the position as an organizing intern for the summer was a turning point in my career.
I had made the decision to go into non-profit work, but the experience of being an intern in a team of 5 (including me and the other intern) allowed me to get an intimate look at running non-profits, movements, and the sex-ed advocacy field. I not only learned so much about how I work as a person, but also who I want to be as an advocate.
My supervisor and executive have been incredible mentors; they answered any question I had, from the tax distinction between 501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s to election strategy. And even more, they took me as I was, acknowledging my ideas and implementing them. It solidified my ideas of going into non-profit advocacy but opened my eyes to sex-ed advocacy. This space is the perfect intersection of my two interests and a space needing more voices.
This internship also helped me see that making a living through organizing is possible. I always knew I could make money in legislative spaces, but if I can do that while staying rooted in grassroots work, that’s even better. Legislative campaigns might offer more financial security, but my heart will always be in community organizing. More than that, this summer also allowed me to experience life in the DC area.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what community means. I think it’s about shared values and trust, yes, but also about joy. That’s one of the biggest lessons in movement work. Joy must be part of the center. I want to be part of something like that, where joy and resistance live side by side.
I met organizers working on housing equity, and I saw a different side of the city. That perspective reminded me that even in the nation’s capital, there’s still a local community fighting for its rights. DC doesn’t have local sovereignty, which affects everything about how the city functions. Getting a glimpse of that felt grounding. It helped me see where I could fit into this broader ecosystem of change.
All of this made me realize that I want to go back to DC for grad school. I want to pursue my Master’s in Public Administration in a place where I can continue growing and enjoy life. Going to World Pride, cheering at women’s soccer games, and just being able to have fun on my own showed me that DC could be that place. No matter what happens, in my heart I know that I will find my way back to both sex ed advocacy and to DC.
Looking back, I realize that this summer gave me so much more than I anticipated. I found a team I loved working with. I gained new skills and insights that I’ll carry with me. I learned how to structure my time, manage expectations, and think long-term. Most importantly, I found a space where I feel like I belong.
This summer, I didn’t just find my passion.
I found my place.