Evin's D.C. Experience
Hello again my name is Evin Carrizales and I am one of the interns at Voice for Adoption for the 2020 Spring Semester. I am a senior at Michigan State University and I am majoring in Political Science. My experience in Washington D.C. and at Voice for Adoption has been life changing. Two years ago when I was just entering college I would've never expected that I could end up in D.C. with an amazing internship. I first want to explain my experience in Washington D.C. Living in a big city has never been a dream of mine, but I am glad I got the chance to experience it.
Though it was short lived due to COVID-19, living in D.C. has brought a lot of joy into my life. I got to meet a lot of awesome people who all want to do great things in the future. And some of these people I am glad to call my friends. These people have not only opened my eyes to new experiences, but they have also created some great memories that I wouldn’t give up for anything. Along with this D.C. is always busy with so many things to do, it seemed that there was no way we could get bored here! Visiting museums and trying new foods were two things I loved to do in my free time. It seemed like you could spend all day in just one museum and there are so many of them, and the food was just something that I could never get back in Michigan.
Moving onto my experience working with Voice for Adoption, the transition into this type of work was not easy. Having no prior knowledge in foster care and adoption and little experience with the type of work we do it was not an easy task. But, after getting over these humps I am happy to say that these issues no longer exist and I have become more knowledgeable in a policy area where before I knew nothing about. Focusing in on the work I have done at Voice for Adoption, one of my favorite things I have done while here is going onto Capitol Hill to attend various meetings including ones for the Every Child Deserves a Family Act.
Drawing your attention back to my short living period in D.C. due to COVID-19, it is unreal how quickly things can change within a matter of a single day I went from wanting to stay in D.C. and ride this thing out to coming home that weekend. Knowing that COVID-19 is a big threat, I realized how fast a government can move when things get bad. Living in D.C. during this time has also made me realize that many people do not take things like this seriously before they get bad. And when this bad time comes it can often be too late to do anything to stop it. This experience has also made me realize how many issues get swept under the rug for issues like COVID-19. This includes child welfare and it saddens me that more people don’t know what is going on with issues that concern the children of the United States. I know that even after this internship, I will never overlook issues such as child welfare ever again.
Even though I have returned to Michigan, I am still committed to working with Voice for Adoption. Some of the items I will be working on are as follows. First, I am continuing my work with social media. Second, I will be creating white papers on legislation Voice for Adption supports or opposes. Third, I will continue creating images Voice for Adoption can use on social media or the website. Lastly, what ever else is thrown my way in the future I will complete.
