A typical day at the city Council involves me getting into
the office around 850 in the morning and checking my emails before 9:00.
Because I am still getting into the system and my access badge has not been
activated yet, I have become very good friends with the police officers
providing security on the floor. We always have great conversations before they
buzz me in!
Once at work, I start by speaking with the Chief of Staff on
any new projects or things he would like me to be involved with. So far, I have
been place on a couple of extraordinary projects that involve a lot uncommon research.
I work on these for around 1 to 2 hours before I ask staff members if they have
anything that I can attend, such as meetings or counsel briefs.
The meetings I attend are the best part of any volunteer or
internship experience I’ve ever had. They all confirm why am interested in city
government and make me really happy in my decision to attend Arizona State
University and get a degree in public policy.
After and sometimes between meetings, we grab lunch and have
lighthearted conversations so as to not get too weighed down by all of the discussions.
It is I nice balance between the two.
Towards the end of the day, I follow up with the city
council secretary about my badge, pay and computer access. Apparently it is a
long process for all of these things so I like to keep on top of these things.
Around 5:00 I get out for the day except for Mondays for
staff meetings. These are another great opportunity for me because I get a
better understanding and interaction with the councilwoman and staff members.
This is my typical day at city hall! Have any of you had
similar experiences? If different, how so?
Hi Derek,
ReplyDeleteLooks like we're working right across the hall from one another! I'm an intern in the Mayor's office. I have to agree with you on everything you've said about Phoenix City Hall. I absolutely love being in there- the energy is wonderful. The meetings are my favorite part of the internship as well. Subcommittee and council meetings can be long at times, but I find them fascinating, and its empowering to know what's going on in the city and to see the inner-workings of policy creation and implementation.
I'm glad to hear that you're having such a great time so far.
Maybe I'll see you around!
So I completely posted this comment on the wrong user profile originally LOL. I got a surgery earlier today and the pain medicine is really messing with me. Anyways I read your post because I watched a video about gluten intolerance the other day and found it to be pretty interesting. I go sad when I saw the part about the cake because I got weight loss surgery and I can't have cake anymore.
ReplyDeleteYeah the badge, pay and computer access stuff did take awhile, luckily I went in early and got my stuff finished up by the end of the day. Your days sound similar to mine, I am interested to see how much so throughout later posts. Enjoy your time and experience.
ReplyDelete