Latina in Washington: Building Confidence, Connections, and a Future
Victoria Gomez Meza interned at the White House Hispanic Initiative, working to advance educational equity for Latinos and helping plan events for Hispanic Heritage Month. Engaging with diverse professionals through coffee chats expanded her understanding of career paths in public service and advocacy. As a first-generation Latina student, this experience showed her the possibilities ahead and strengthened her commitment to pursuing a future in public service.
Throughout this semester in the Illinois in Washington Program, I have developed my skillsets that have helped me feel more prepared when walking into any room while also feeling confident about what my future holds within the political field and spaces of advocacy. Professor Mayer was a large part in this confidence as she always showed up for our cohort and provided us with guidance on aspects that can be overlooked during our time in D.C. as we try to build a name for ourselves.
My first time visiting the White House during their Dia de Los Muertos Celebration
During the semester, I interned at the White House Hispanic Initiative located in the Department of Education. Here, I worked with a team that is focused on advancing economic opportunity and educational equity for Latinos across the country. I always remember learning about this internship during a Latino leadership conference where I focused on networking and sharing that I was looking for internships in D.C. for the following semester. I was in disbelief as my passion for education and advocating for underrepresented communities was coming together in this internship. Interning under the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, was a very special experience as he is a champion in advocating for underrepresented communities and working towards providing an equitable education to students. I will never forget the day he shared his first gen story with our intern team, because as first gen students, we understand how we don’t always have a clear pathway when it comes to college and beyond but taking the leap is worth it.
Celebrating National First-Generation Day at the Department of Education with Secretary Cardona
I worked about 35 hours a week, in the office, while also attending events in the afternoon with our executive director. Being in D.C. and working in this office during the fall semester was very special as Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from mid-September through mid-October allowing me to take part in a variety of celebrations, and as an intern for the Hispanic Initiative I had the opportunity to plan the Department of Education’s Hispanic Heritage celebration that brought in authors, celebrities, and educational leaders. We also had the opportunity to attend events celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month while celebrating their accomplishments for our communities. Some of these celebrations were hosted by the House of Representatives, the Department of Commerce, the American Federation of Teachers, The White House, and NASA. Being in these spaces opened my eyes to seeing the representation Latinos have in these spaces in D.C, while also becoming aware of career paths. This was something I was not familiar with but it made me feel very proud and grew my confidence that I too, could be in these spaces one day.
The third Latino Astronaut to go to space, Jose Hernandez. 100% recommend watching his move on Amazon Prime, “A Million Miles Away”
Throughout our course with Professor Mayer, one of our assignments was to set up coffee chats throughout the semester. This was one of my favorite things, as I found myself learning a lot from diverse individuals working within congress, nonprofits and agencies but also some who are graduate students in law school and PhD programs and others who are interns within the area. The guidance we received on how to prepare and execute coffee chats was very helpful as knowing what kinds of questions to ask, made me feel more confident when speaking to those in leadership positions. I even found myself having casual unplanned coffee chats once in a while with individuals during events and in the Department of Education. Learning from peoples’ backgrounds and what got them here has been very insightful, as I came with a goal in learning what’s next for me to continue to advance in my career as an advocate.
Overall, the opportunity to live in D.C. for the semester opened my eyes to the numerous career possibilities for a future in public service. Every day I woke up excited to see what new things I would learn or get to experience, as it is a busy city with so many things to explore. As a first-generation Latina student, I am proud to have had the courage to take part in this program and how committed I have been to saying yes to opportunities that have helped me grow.
The Department of Education hosted a Hispanic Heritage Month event, “Educacíon en Acción” and I created the presentation!