Sarah and I just finished the third week of our internship and so far it’s been complicated but very rewarding. We’ve realized flexibility is one of the most important parts of grassroots organizing. For example, we planned to go door-to-door three times during our second week, but it rained almost every day and we were only able to canvass once. Instead, we made phone calls and switched around the day of our data entry. One of my favorite parts of the internship (and one of the most frustrating) is that you have to think on your feet and be ready for anything. We’re also discovering that the more challenging something is, the more rewarding it is. On our first day out, almost no one was home and we had a high number of refusals. However, when we got our first petition signed, it felt amazing.
So many people have been supportive. It is so wonderful going to someone’s door and hearing her personal reasons behind supporting Planned Parenthood and comprehensive sex education. This past week, I spoke to a school nurse who works in the Hazleton school district and she told me nearly 70 students in the high school were pregnant last year alone. She’s been struggling with the school for most of her career to put comprehensive sex education into the curriculum and was very supportive of Planned Parenthood’s work. Its women like her who makes me proud to intern for Planned Parenthood and to play a role in making a positive and lasting change for students in Pennsylvania.
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