- Published: Thursday, July 29, 2021 01:08 PM
July 29 is National Intern Day! Sen. Pacione-Zayas welcomed two interns into her district office this summer. Read more about Melinda and Jonathan below.
Melinda Jara
Melinda is a Chicago-native living in the North Austin neighborhood. She recently graduated from Lane Tech College Prep, and is excited to be attending University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this fall. There, she plans to major in speech and hearing science to help her achieve her goal of becoming a speech pathologist. As a first-generation college student, she is excited to grow in a new and challenging environment.
Melinda is passionate about serving her community. In her future career path, she hopes to use her biculturalism and bilingual skills to connect to communities. The internship with Sen. Pacione-Zayas’ district office has allowed her to learn about the behind-the-scenes of health care through attending weekly Chicagoland Vaccine Partnership meetings. It has further shown her the importance community-building through working together with different organizations and stakeholders.
In her free time, Melinda enjoys everything music-related. She has played violin for 13 years, including four years with her school’s orchestra. She also danced with her school’s Puerto Rican cultural dance club, Alliance of Boricuas. She has a Shih Tzu named Sammy and her favorite food is Puerto Rican cuisine.
Jonathan Barrera
Jonathon is from Chicago and lives in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. He is currently a senior at Aspira Business and Finance High School. After high school, he hopes to attend college or go to trade school, and plans to pursue a career in real estate.
In the internship with Sen. Pacione-Zayas, Jonathon has enjoyed working with the senator and getting to know all the people around the office. The experience has given him a better understanding of the life of a senator, as well as a strong grasp on other occupations that deal with government on a day-to-day basis.
Jonathon is involved with his school’s entrepreneurship program, which has inspired his interest in eventually studying banking and finances. In his free time, he enjoys drawing, hiking, calligraphy, and track. He is passionate about history and the lessons it teaches.