City Hall

For the past months during this summer, I've been interning in City Hall for Madison Nguyen on the 18th floor (the massively tall building has 19 floors). While working in my cubicle, I tend to look down to the city of San Jose seeing houses looking like little squares, streets like ant trails, mountains looking like clay, cars moving like bit char-g cars that were popular a few years back. I actually have a box full of those little things from back then. During my daily viewing, I could not get over the fact that many people are waving signs for companies on the side of streets, working on the fields picking fruit in the blazing hot sun down there while I work in the office comfortably in a cubicle with the AC blasting keeping me cool, high speed internet making me forget how it is really outside: reality, the privilege I have being inside on a hot day as well as the opportunities that await for me after this internship.

This job is totally different from my first job I had back in my sophomore year of high school at McDonald's. It's almost the entire opposite. At McDonald's, you get your hands dirty and you get sweaty. At City Hall, the worst you can get with dirtying your hand is if you don't wash it after you use the bathroom. It is quite comfortable, yet I am possibly getting paid more than I did at McDonald's with my end of the summer stipend from Vision New America. So if salaries define who you are then is being an intern for a Councilmember more "significant" than a McDonald's worker or any "lower" field of work?

Today was my last day and I feel incredibly grateful to learn how our bureaucratic city government works while being able to contribute to the legislative process. Before the internship, I used to narrow-mindedly think politicians did everything: write all these proposals, letters, commendations, etc., but now I know there are HELLA people behind them to do their work. It reminds me of that word in AP English during high school: metonymy -- to refer to something that represents something else. When we talk about a politician doing something, it's not just her/him, it's the people in her/his office doing it as well. Bureaucracy! Metonymy!

It has been a pleasure working there. It makes me a little bit more comfortable familiarizing what options I will have after my undergrad. I will definitely consider legislative staff positions in the future.