Beginning my day at 6AM all I could force myself to look forward to was the opportunity to crawl right back into bed, simultaneously dreading the eleven hours it would take me to get there. However after a few shots of espresso and our first meeting I was once again reminded how lucky I am to be on this trip and what an incredible experience this really is. Few times in my life I have found myself as inspired as I was today while listening to Hannah Beth Jackson speak during our meeting. As a strong advocate for aiding domestic violence victims she talked about the Violence against Women Project, Domestic violence solutions, and her work with the Santa Barbara women’s political committee. She also gave us insight regarding a bill on pharmaceuticals that she strongly supported regarding producer responsibility. I thoroughly enjoyed, and as a perspective politician, benefited from hearing her talk about where she started as a politician and her passions as she worked her way up through the system. Over all she is someone that I absolutely look to as an inspiration and a role model and getting to hear from her has so far been my favorite part of this trip. Soon after, we met with the secretary of senate, Greg Schmidt. Sitting in the desks on the senate floor was one of the most amazing feelings. I can only hope to find myself in a desk of my own quite similar, if not exactly that, in the future. After lunch and later in the day we were able to meet with the minority leaders Bob Huff and Connie Conway. I was actually very excited to meet with republicans and hear a different perspective on a lot of the issues that have been consistently brought up by my colleagues. As someone hoping to enter the world of politics I definitely find it beneficial to be well rounded and hear from both sides, so I was definitely enthused at the opportunity to talk about domestic violence with another strong female figure in the assembly. Towards the end of our day, although our scheduled meeting with the Governor did not go as planned, meeting people that worked in his office very close to him was quite a treat and again very inspirational. We ended our day once again with Das Williams which is always a pleasant addition to our day. His enthusiasm and genuine interest makes being around him so enjoyable. Although I was already able to have a solid conversation with him, it said a lot that he stayed after both at dinner and during today’s meeting to take extra questions and really maximize our experience. Being the longest day on our schedule, I also found it to be the most exciting and fun day all around. Seven pages of notes and six Band-Aids around my ankles later, I finally returned to my bed to relax and reflect on what a busy and rewarding day it had been. Despite the long days, I could absolutely get used to eleven hour days in the Capitol. 
-Desiree Sulzmann April 8th