Dipping Their Toes in the Political Pool

Sociology major Kay Quintana knows their degree can lead them down many different career paths. She could work in human services, law enforcement, the justice system, public health or activism. But after experiencing a 12-week internship in fall 2025, she has realized their calling.  

“My end goal is to act as a legislator on the state level,” Quintana said. “Whether that’s a representative or a senator, I’m not picky.” 

Quintana caught the political bug through hands-on advocacy work during their internship with The Young Invincibles Young Advocate Program. The national organization aims to empower the next generation by amplifying young voices in the fight for affordable education, health care and career opportunities. 

During the internship, Quintana was grouped with two other interns and tasked with creating a legitimate policy proposal. 

“We knew we wanted our proposal to deal with higher education, which is one of the organization’s core issue areas, but we weren’t sure which route to go, and, honestly, it took us a while to figure it out,” Quintana said.  

It wasn’t until one of the group members shared their experience in college — having a hard time finding a place to live — that the group decided to focus on affordable housing for college students. 

Through their research, the group discovered that housing insecurity is a growing problem for students and could be a significant barrier to graduation. In a survey conducted by The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, among the 74,350 survey participants between spring 2023 and summer 2024, 48% of students are experiencing housing insecurity and 14% of students are experiencing homelessness. 

To combat this, Quintana’s group came up with a policy called the SHELTER Act, which stands for Student Housing Equity and Long-Term Education Reform. The policy, if implemented, will increase access to stable and affordable housing for low-income and housing-insecure students. 

“Housing is very expensive, and it’s the reason I’ve had to take out student loans. If I lived off campus, or with my family, I’d probably be debt-free,” said Quintana. “So, I would not want the expense to be a reason someone can’t pursue higher education or be able to graduate.” 

The SHELTER Act has been added to Young Invincibles’ 2026 Policy Agenda, though there are many steps before the policy could become law. It will start as a study bill, where research will be conducted on the number of students facing housing insecurity and its effects. Then, a task force will be created to analyze that data, and in 2027, hopefully, the bill will be presented in the legislative session. 

Though it may take time for the act to come to fruition, Quintana and their group’s work has already been successful. At the end of the internship, each group presented its policy during Young Invincibles’ Colorado Policy Shark Tank in Denver, and Quintana’s group won. 

Above: Kay Quintana on the right, presenting The SHELTER Act with her fellow interns

“The experience was so rewarding,” Quintana said. “I don’t really know what I wanted to do career-wise, but being able to take a step back and look at the institutions that cause issues like these and then addressing those from the top down is really rewarding.” 

The internship has already snowballed into more policy-driven opportunities. One of the judges in the Shark-Tank-style event was Senator Katie Wallace. Through meeting and talking about their passions, Quintana is now participating in a fellowship in Wallace’s office, traveling to the Capitol a few times a week. 

“I do a lot of constituent responses, policy analysis, research and social media,” Quintana said. “I also sometimes sit in on committee hearings and floor proceedings, which has been cool to see in action.” 

Quintana is grateful for the opportunities that helped them uncover their career passion and is excited to be working toward their goals before graduating. And she is driven. You could even say she’s made it their policy to make the world a better place.  

“I would like to run for office shortly after I graduate,” Quintana said. “Something local, then continue working on the policy route because of how life-changing and impactful it can be.”