Written by: Kimberly Guzmán
My time interning for the Office of Senator Judith Zaffirini has been full of many new experiences, laughs, and…constituent correspondence. I have been a legislative intern for Senator Zaffirini since August of last year and have enjoyed every moment of my internship. Senator Zaffirini, or “Z,” as the office calls her, is the representative of Senate Distrcit 21 (SD 21), which stretches all the way from Laredo to parts of Austin. I began this internship as a nervous college student who had no idea what they were doing and have since grown to become confident in the work I have done at the Capitol.
My day usually starts 9AM. I try to get to the Capitol around 8:50 AM, so that I have time to get settled. This internship started off working from home, but is now an in person internship. The first thing I do is check my emails. Once I have responded to emails and cleared my inbox, I check in with one of my supervisors, who typically assigns me with my tasks for the day. My tasks range from calling constituents, letter writing to constituents, writing memorandums that brief the Senator, policy research, or typical office duties, like scanning, printing, answering phone calls, etc.
Each day looks different and my tasks vary often. Sometimes my day only consists of research other days I have various tasks at hand and am very busy. It has definitely been interesting to see the behind the scenes work of legislation and how the whole legislative process begins, which usually begins with the constituents themselves! When I am not doing constituent casework, I like to chat with the other interns at the office and catch up on our week. It’s nice to have other people around my age interning at the office, because we all bond over our experiences being Z interns. I feel fortunate to work in a very welcoming office environment with other college student interns and helpful supervisors.
The most surprising, and super nice, thing I have found to be, is the amount of food the office gets from Senator Zaffirini! Senator Zaffirini loves to cook and bake. When she does she sends her office the food that she makes. She has sent us peanut brittle (my personal favorite thing she makes), cheese dip, brownies, tamales, chips and guacamole, spicy nut party mix (this is similar to Chex mix), and much more! Its always a good day in the office when she sends food over. Another food related thing I enjoy about interning for Senator Zaffirini, is getting to attend the Senate work events. This includes going the the Senate Holiday Party and Chili Day. At both events, amazing food served. I believe all the food served at these events is cooked by senate staff.
Overall, my time being a legislative intern has been a good run. I have learned more than I could have imagined and feel very fortunate to have been guided by amazing supervisors.
Image: The rotunda in the Capitol.
