Topic: Thank you letter

To: Phoenix City Council, District 8 Staff and Councilwoman Kate Gallego

This letter is written to express my deepest gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of the district office as an intern. The willingness for the staff to accept me into their office has been extremely encouraging to me because everyone made me feel so welcome.

Over the time I have been with District 8, I have had some pretty interesting projects to work on. Also, the people who work at city hall were all so very cooperative and sympathetic to finding solutions to the problems or concerns of the constituency.

Most of all, the most impactful part of this internship was sitting in on the important meetings, dealt with the decision making process. To trust me with having discretion in these meetings has been really encouraging and gave me confidence that I would be able to work well in this team setting. Also, those in other areas of the organization, who were in those meetings made me feel included in the conversation.

Had it not be for Councilwoman Gallego following up on my inquiry into internship opportunity, I do not think that I would have had such a fulfilling opportunity. The professionalism and intelligence shown by her, the chief of staff, and district aids is inspiring. This gives me great hope in finding a work opportunity in public service! Thank you!

Very Respectfully,

Derek Serrano

Topic: Most important things I learned from the internship & meeting goals

This internship has taught me so much about public service on the city level. I was exposed to many different areas that gave me first hand experience seeing how the different parts of the organization operate.

Without exaggeration, every part of my internship gave me valuable knowledge on how staffers are able to interact with the multiple areas in city hall.  There were times where I stopped what I was doing just to sit in on the meetings or phone calls where solutions were being discussed. This is where I did most of my learning. Also, the kind of talent the City of Phoenix attracts is extremely high. There are many who take their job seriously and are really professional in their jobs.

I feel like I learned the most from those in the council who took the time to explain things to me while there were council meetings. This real-time explanation was such a change from academic learning and it gave me the chance to gain a deeper understanding of the operations of city hall that, I believe, I would not have gained otherwise. Additionally, the fast paced environment has given me the opportunity to adjust to the speed that is required when learning about the issues facing the district. It takes a really focused individual to take in all the information in a given day.

 Overall, I could not have chosen a better internship as my main source of hands on learning and as an outlet to learn from those in the profession. The amount of people that are affected by the decisions is quite remarkable and I hope to one day be a permanent part of the staff that promotes that kind of ethical, responsible representation of an electorate.