Thursday, June 14, 2012

NY Farm Days and Settling In

My first weekend in Albany was good! There was the Art on Lark festival with music and food and awesome art and also the Capital Pride Parade and Festival down Lark St. on Saturday. It is a really hard transition from Cornell and living with 7 of my best friends, to being in a whole new city and no knowing anyone. It is hard to figure out how to break in to a new place, trying to find the good restaurants and bars, good places to run, pick-up soccer games, how to get to the co-op, how does the bus work, what's the best bakery and cafe? Its a process! My house is lovely, and my roommate is great, she works for the Department of Environmental Conservation and its been interesting to learn about her experience there and get to know her. One thing I will have to work on this summer is a plan for after August ends, and there are so many options! I have some pretty diverse interests in policy, agriculture, natural resources, and maybe education. Of course there is a lot of overlap with these subjects, but its hard to figure out my strengths and interests and things I like and don't like and what experiences I feel would help me along the way. This internship is a really great opportunity to learn more about government and policy with a New York State focus and Cornell specific work. It is nice because though I have graduated and left Ithaca, I am still thinking of Cornell every day.




Yesterday was Dairy Day here on Capital Hill in the Legislative Office Building by the Assembly Minority.  There were Dairy Princesses from various counties, a former NY Giants running back (Joe Morris), and representation from various groups like Organic Valley, Farm Bureau, Dairy One, Hood, and more offering information, ice cream, cheese, yogurt, milk and other dairy related goods. Staff members of State Assembly members were scooping out ice cream for hours to long lines of people. It was really nice to see Organic Valley there because one of my good friends at Cornell has a dairy farm that is a member and they do really great work. Its a dairy farmer co-op with about 1400 members nation-wide.



It has been interesting seeing the last two weeks of session and trying to get the three bills moving. The healthcare bill is having hard time moving through, but the police officer residency bill has passed the Senate and will hopefully go through the Assembly soon. The pistol shooting/safety course bill has moved through both houses which is great and now just needs the Governors signature. Part of our job is talking to important people in various offices to make sure they are familiar with the issue and bill and can help it move forward. Today I also had to deliver about 12 letters to different Senators and Assembly Members, and it was an adventure seeing all the different floors of the Legislative Office Building and the Capital Building too. At the top of one staircase there was some beautiful painting on the walls and cool windows.




I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my bed and my mattress, and looking forward to tomorrow. Lee and I are going on some farm visits! Yay! I am excited to get to enjoy the nice weather, and dress down. Who knows, maybe I will even break out my Carhart overalls.


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