Intern Spotlight: Ryley Garrido!
This summer, we are excited to have eight interns working with us in policy, law, grassroots, intercessory prayer, media, IT and election campaigns. Since their start date on June 1st, they have already contributed valuable work that advances the mission of The Family Foundation. In addition to their normal responsibilities, they also participate in our weekly EQUIP Worldview Academy for high school seniors and college-age students.
For the duration of our internship program, we will release a bio of each intern, written by one of their fellow interns, so you can get to know The Family Foundation Intern Class of 2021. Today is our final intern bio written by TFF Action intern Trey Hampton.
Next up, Ryley Garrido! Even though he hails from Raleigh, NC, he originally lived in Pennsylvania for 15 years. During his elementary to early middle school years, Ryley played flag football, basketball, and lacrosse. Throughout high school and now college, he pursues an interest in ultimate frisbee. Ryley is currently a rising junior at Regent University, majoring in Government with concentrations in American Government & Politics and International Relations & Foreign Policy. His interest in policy stems from competitions in speech and debate in high school. The two most influential events for Ryley were team policy debate, where two teams of two debate a policy suggestion relating to the debate resolution (such as the US government and international relations), and extemporaneous speaking, where the speaker has 20 minutes of prep time to give a 7 minute speech on a current event in the news. It may surprise you that Ryley started out as a film student due to his interest in documentaries, primarily in telling the stories of others. However, he realized after his first semester that feature film, not documentaries, was what the degree primarily taught and was not the career for him, so he made the switch to government. His career could include serving in state office, working in a congressional office (but not as a congressman), work at a think tank, or even work for the government overseas. The sky's the limit!
A neat fact about Ryley is that he is half-Cuban! His grandparents came over from Cuba in the late 50s/early 60s, and the stories that he has heard from them over the years of them having to leave their country and how much they cherish the freedom them have here as well as what it took to start life over in a new country has helped to shape his value of freedom. This connection has also helped build a passion for being involved in politics; if we lose our freedoms, we lose our nation. Another neat thing is that he has learned how to make some of his grandmother's recipes including black beans and rice, picadillo, and plantain chips! His family claims that there is almost no difference between his cooking and his grandmother’s (though she is still the expert)! One restaurant that he and his father visited in Richmond is Kuba Kuba, which was influenced by Cuban food. It is definitely worth visiting if you get the chance!
In his free time, he likes to dive into books such as Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis as well as The Great Divorce. He also enjoys playing video games and watching movies that everyone has been telling him he needs to watch. When Ryley is looking for a good TV show to watch and laugh about, he chooses Seinfeld. A few of his hobbies include playing ukulele, as well as collecting valuables such as vinyl records, LEGOs, model trains and different variations of the board game, Monopoly. Currently, he owns over 50 different Monopoly games with the oldest being copyrighted in 1954! He even has one from England from the 1970s and another board from France that is in French!
One issue that motivates Ryley to work for The Family Foundation is the Right of Conscience. That is a person’s ability to believe what they want without obstruction. His favorite thing about The Family Foundation is their willingness to work with everyone in different communities, no matter where they are. Ryley hopes to work to create legislation that both sides of the aisle should be able to agree on. A current Bible verse that has guided Ryley recently is James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” These verses are ones that guide Ryley as he continues to get more involved in politics.