Last week, I made the long walk (by long, I mean 2 blocks) across the New Haven Green to visit the office of our US Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Although she was not there, I was able to sit down to chat with her senior staffer, Lou Mangini to talk about a campaign I had been working on with my teammates in Up to Us to raise awareness about long term US fiscal challenges.
Our walk led us past the beautiful New Haven Public Library, the courthouse and city hall, buildings that I could see just from my bedroom window. The walk reminded me once again how unique New Haven was and how lucky I am that Yale is located here and not anywhere else. New Haven has a bit of everything — complexity and the bustle of the city without compromising a feeling of community. It has character.
The location gives me such a unique opportunity to engage with the city, not on a superficial level but in a position to contribute positively to the surrounding communities, whether through volunteering, attending community events, or just enjoying all that the city has to offer. I remembered that my friend actually tutors elementary school students at the New Haven Public Library! She’s been telling me all about how she helps her two buddies master fractions in math using Play-Doh.
We had lunch at Louis’ Lunch afterwards, the place where the great American burger supposedly originated. So many different groups of people had squeezed into the tiny space that it was difficult to move around. Families were there for their Sunday brunch, tourists sampling their first sandwich burger; all chatting and sharing the space in anticipation of our food. It was a great feeling to be surrounded by people other than my college-aged friends.
All of this in a day. Mr. Mangini urged us to think about reaching outside our campus to reach out to our bigger community. He left us with intriguing thoughts to pursue.
