I am starting the fourth year of my Ph.D. in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, and I have been organizing with CGSU since the Fall 2022 semester. When I found out that CGSU was affiliated with the UE, I was thrilled because I come from a UE family - my wife was a worker at a UE shop in North Carolina. I was already familiar with the UE's principle of worker-led union democracy and excited to talk to grads about how “workers run our union” during our first card drop. Shortly after I was elected to CGSU's first bargaining committee, I was chosen to represent our local at a worker exchange to the Frente Auténtico del Trabajo, the UE's counterpart in Mexico. During this exchange, I had an opportunity to agitate with grads at the University of Chapingo against their neglectful supervisors. This would not have been possible if the UE did not believe so strongly in building connections with workers in any workplace. I am running for the at-large delegate position on the Fight Together 4 CGSU slate so CGSU can continue to learn from the experience of our national affiliate and so we can provide examples of a healthy and democratic union to other workers in the UE and beyond. Grads at Cornell deserve to feel connected to the broader labor movement, because in my experience, this connection can be an antidote to fear, cynicism, and lack of agency!