16 Aug Week 5: LHIP workshop

Although this is only my fifth week working at the Intermountain Regional Office, this week I had the pleasure of participating in the Latino Heritage Internship Program culminating workshop from Wednesday through Friday. On Wednesday I went in to work half day so as other interns were flying in to Denver. I met up with them at their hotel near the airport and got to hear a few of their stories from the summer. It was nice to finally put faces to the voices that I heard so frequently on our weekend webinars. From the hotel we took a bus ride to Downtown Denver to visit the Denver Art Museum. We took a short tour of some of the cultural exhibits that were on display and experienced a lecture about the power of millenial Latinos from Carlos Martinez of the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. We got to enjoy dinner at Torchy’s Tacos in downtown while socializing with our new friends. Thursday was all about professional development at the IMRO. Since I have worked at the IMRO for 4 weeks I was able to help set up and show some students around the office. I participated in a workshop on federal resumes and was also able to listen to a panel on diversity and inclusion in between signing documents to move into my new apartment that will house me through my extension in November. After the workshop in our office, we traveled to Red Rocks Amphitheater for a picnic dinner. There was a brief thunderstorm that rolled through as we walked to our shelter, but it soon cleared and provided a view of rainbows upon the Denver skyline.

On Friday we gathered to hear the presentations from other LHIP interns on their projects and summer experiences. We listened to Irela Bague and Julie Chavez-Rodriguez speak on Latino/a issues and involvement in conservation. Afterward we drove to Boulder, CO to for an overnight stay at Cal-Wood educations center. We ended the day with a hike and meal in the mountains. I am so grateful for having been able to experience so much this summer with LHIP. Here’s to five more weeks of the program and a few extra months beyond.