ChatGPT said:
The Power of the One-on-One
One of my goals for the summer was to have one “coffee chat” a week. It didn’t have to be professional. It just had to end with me walking away having learned something. With that formula, by the end of eight weeks, I would have expanded my network vastly. I could never have guessed how much so.
At Human Rights Watch, we speak in global terms. At our daily scrum meetings, we talk about breaking world news and immediately move into planning for advocacy. As invigorating as that is, I learned it was the small things that actually made the company run.
I was not flying to Mozambique to interview someone for a documentary. But I learned that my list building was just as important. Monitoring how stories were doing and developing lists taught me skills that are foundational to how the company functions. Writing summaries of reports meant that a researcher’s work could actually reach the people who needed it, whether that was a journalist or a staffer preparing for a hearing. I started to understand that the parts of the job that felt small were not separate from the mission. Because of that list building and those report summaries, I was able to advocate for immigration policy using our research on Capitol Hill. Public interest communications are truly all about ensuring that the message gets heard by everyone, most especially those with the power to make a change. Doing report summaries on elderly pensions in Hungary may seem small and honestly unimportant—that is, until, while doing my research, I saw a prime minister publicly respond to our report’s release. Throughout these eight weeks, my definition of a changemaker has been completely altered.
As much as I still desire to change the world, what I learned this summer is the power of the one-on-one. Having a coffee chat. Taking the time to listen to my Uber driver’s story. Making someone coming in for free groceries feel seen. I learned that allowing small moments to happen fully is what makes a huge impact possible. I learned to slow down over this summer. I realized I didn’t have to rush from McPherson station to K Street. I knocked on my neighbors’ doors and laughing would ensue shortly after. I stopped rushing straight to the office and had the best conversations with my self-proclaimed uncle, the doorman, Mr. Mohammed. I’m truly leaving this summer with foundational lessons, the biggest one being discovering who I am beyond an advocate.
I look forward to bringing this back with me as I return to Atlanta and to my career. Every student I work with, every immigration case I am assigned, I will pour into fully. Because as the quote goes, you might not change the world, but you can change the world for one person. And like my paper plate superlative said, I will be back in DC!
