Christian
Simply stated, Christian is the heart of the team. His bouncing off the wall personality combined with his off the cuff remarks can cheer anyone up in a split second. Always the one to cut the tension in the room, frequently puts himself out there with no fear of embarrassment. Throughout the internship, he repeatedly assured me that he had my back and stayed true to his word. While others faltered and shirked their responsibilities, Christian could be counted on to pick up the ball. I would often joke to the other interns that all Christian had was heart, because some of the things he did were just plain ridiculous. However, I would always follow that joke up by saying that heart is sometimes all you need and that you cannot teach it.
With Christian’s big heart come big dreams of one day becoming a congressman and being able to serve the community. Usually I am highly skeptical of people who claim to want to serve the community because often times it is nothing but lies. When I talked to Christian about his dreams, I saw in his eyes and heard in his voice a very real and strong conviction to help the community. Witnessing Christian’s compassion for the homeless convinced me of his willingness to help his fellow man. At the first event I went to, I found myself with Christian and his girlfriend talking to homeless people. Christian and his girlfriend actively reached out to these two homeless persons, going as far as offering to buy them food. I really admired him for that because in all honesty I would not have given those a passing glance much less talk to them.
I believe in Christian so much that if he were to ever run for public office, I would be the first one to join his campaign because I know he will always have the interests of the community at heart.
Monica
Christian extraordinaire, excessively frail, incredibly lame, ridiculously cutesy and a great friend are just some of the things that come to mind about the intern that I became closest to at the end of the program. Monica’s picture is deceivingly reserved, but under the layers of calm lies a strong willed personality. By far the most overworked and abused intern in terms of her office assignment, Monica handled it all with grace, only complaining about her situation after I repeatedly pointed out how terrible it was. Working on the project, she was one of the interns that I counted on the most due to her journalism experience and work ethic. Even now, I am not quite sure how she managed to accomplish all the things I assigned her.
More than being a great worker, Monica was an even better friend. I always felt comfortable talking to her and more importantly, she seemed to genuinely care about my well being. She was constantly concerned about how obsessed I was getting with the project and work; and gave me a hard time about being a workaholic. A mother at heart, Monica would roll her eyes and sigh every time I swore or did something immature. Often times, she was the voice of reason and compassion to my irrational and harsh outbursts.
Monica’s large capacity to care and great understanding of me (oddly enough) leads me to believe that she will be a close friend for the foreseeable future.
Kristina
I spent by far the most time with Kristina during my eight weeks in Los Angeles. She was the only intern with whom I would spend late nights at the office with. Kristina has the uncanny ability to work with absolutely no sleep and not look tired the next day. There was no question of her dedication and skill, in fact, most of the handbook design was done by her. Kristina’s handbook design surpassed my expectations and I cannot fathom how terrible the handbook would have looked without her.
Even though she dressed the most professional out of all the interns, Kristina has quite the wild side. Her stories of almost getting into fights and being extremely possessive of her boyfriend were extremely surprising given the fact that she does not drink and for the most part walks the line. In addition to being wild, Kristina is one of the most generous people I know. Her constant need to pay and unwillingness to let me repay her, however, admirable, bordered on the annoying. Talking to Kristina always made me feel appreciated. She gave me confidence throughout the internship without even realizing it.
Despite all of this, the most memorable thing about Kristina was the fact that she gave me the best goodbye hug I have ever received!
