Food and Water Watch

Organizer

April - August 2019 • New Brunswick, NJ

What I liked

It changed my outlook on community environmental organizing, and really showed me the power of the anger of a whole town. It's because of this transformative summer job that I am now applying to law school to be an environmental and energy lawyer. I really got to connect with my community and talk to a majority of its residents about the problems they might face if the issue were fighting for failed.

What I wish was different

Honestly, I don't have many complaints. If anything, I just wish it would have been less hot outside (which isn't something we can really control)! A lot of my job involved walking from door to door and sometimes hitting up to 100 homes in a day to inform residents of the upcoming special election. If it was over 90 degrees out, I needed to take breaks and reduce my efficiency.

Advice

Be prepared to walk! Being an organizer means connecting with your community and talking to them about the benefits of the cause you're fighting for. That means a lot of time on your feet- oftentimes, I was walking for up to 5 hours a day with a backpack full of flyers, brochures, and water on my back. It's definitely very physically demanding, but once you get past that, it's extremely rewarding!

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