Dear Leah...

Dear Leah,

How can I thank you for all you did for me? You seen something in me and brought it out into the light, you gambled on me and through that you helped me become a better professional. You taught me a lot more about leadership and I learned and gained so much from you. Every opportunity I got I soaked up knowledge from you and your actions. I also owe you a congratulations, with your well deserved promotion I got to see leadership change first hand. You quizzed me and made sure I learned the skills and had me put them to work. By understanding what I hoped to accomplish and where I wanted to be professionally you put me into situations to have me better myself and learn from my encounters. Through all the encounters they will benefit me to become a better professional, and what to expect involving all government to government relations. I hope I met your expectations you had for me and I am glad I got the opportunity to work under you and for the Town of Gilbert. This is an experience I will never forget and will put all the knowledge obtained to use in my future career path. Thanks for everything you did for me, I will see you soon.

Best Wishes,

SKYE

What were the most important things you learned from your internship?

What were the most important things you learned from your internship?

I believed the most important thing I learned during my internship was leadership, the different aspects that reflect it. The importance of being a good leader to better accommodate and form a good team of employees. I learned the importance of a good team to help better accomplish your everyday, weekly, monthly and yearly tasks. If you have a hard working and focused team there is nothing you cannot accomplish and it will provide a fun and peaceful working environment.

Did you meet your initial goals?

Yes, believe I did meet my initial goals I set out to at the beginning of my internship. I wanted to better hone my skill of effective communication and I think I have. With the help of my direct supervisor I learned how to do it better, what to practice and what to do to become a more effective communicator. Not just lessons of how to heard but how to stand out and be relevant. I also learned how to better network and I was able to get better at it throughout my internship. This is a skill I will capitalize on through my professional career and personal life. My supervisor also taught me to capitalize on my networking opportunities to further my career. And finally, my goal of becoming a better and effective intergovernmental relations team member, and I honestly think I established a good relationship with the team. I believe I met this goal, I was able to perform with different aspects of government and became knowledgeable the on process.

So all in all I believe I did good with my goals and had a enjoyable time with my internship.

SKYE

Career Service 2 [write up]

For a Career Service write-up I attended an event the ASU College of Public Service & Community Solutions put on, Public Service Impact Talks: Justice in Action. I was in attendance at the Downtown campus in Cronkite theater, I first seen the event advertised as on the Career Services calendar so I registered to attend online. When I was at downtown campus I seen a flier and I grabbed it and waited. On the flier I read I was interested in two of the presenters topics, Police Legitimacy: Repairing the Damaged Trust; and Incarcerated in America: Why You Should Care.

Doug Mellom a graduate research assistant for the school of Criminology and Criminal Justice presented about Police Legitimacy: Repairing the Damaged Trust. His presentation was a relevant controversial topic and it enlighten people to the disrespectful patterns on both sides. What I took from what was presented is how the quality of treatment, and the quality of decision making, should reflect procedural justice. And procedural justice and police legitimacy should include compliance, cooperation, and satisfaction. Mellom ended his presentation with a power picture of Eric Gardener being put in a choke hold by police, in which later killed Gardner.

Kevin Wright an ASU assistant professor for the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice presented about Incarcerated in America: Why You Should Care. I thought was very interesting and the presentation was eye-opening. I mean not so much for me but for others in attendance. I come from poverty and see the scenarios he spoke of and can relate to the outcomes that were spoken throughout the presentation. The opposition saying that “they chose to engage in crime” or “their victims need justice', I mean there are choices but the personal situations also are not put into perspective.

All the topics were necessary in the state of America at the moment and we do need to think about them or be aware of them whether we are with or against them.

SKYE

Career Service 1 [write up]

 For this Career Service write up I watched a webinar on the Career Service site, it is the Salary Negotiation one. This had very insightful tips that I will put to use and keep in mind when it is my time to use tactic I will the salary negotiating skills to do so. I learned the proper knowledge of negotiating, what it is as to what items can be negotiated along with the do and don'ts.

To hold a formal discussion between employer and myself to reach an agreement, first I must honestly assess myself, second understand what are my needs, and third research the company and the industry. These three-steps are are helpful because I can now think about them to properly apply when the time is right and my self assessment will be accurate and I will know what else I also need to do.

All the do's and don'ts were all very helpful and interesting, I also think a lot were common sense but needed to be said so it's out in the open and can be properly reviewed and you can be prepared. All from knowing who you are negotiating with, when to negotiate, and to negotiate everything at once. Also involving not negotiating on the spot leaving yourself time to think and assess. And of course don't negotiate unless you are ready and prepared to take the job.

In conclusion, the last tips I think are the most important. Once you accept an offer you are now obligated to stop interviewing and let the other companies know, this goes back to don't negotiate on the spot giving yourself time to think and assess. And finally, making sure they follow up in writing. Everything that was negotiated and what was decided upon in the agreement between you and the company. And to stay excited about your new job, that is what this was all for right. I very much so enjoyed this webinar.

SKYE

What are the strengths of your organization?

What are the strengths of your organization?

The strengths of the Intergovernmental Relations department in the Town of Gilbert is their commitment to public service, to the town of Gilbert. They take pride in the accomplishments and the change, forming Gilbert to be a well rounded and respected town here in Arizona. The team work and the commitment to get the job done. One analogy I heard a lot was, Gilbert is the little brother that is finally growing up. I liked hearing this, because it was true in so many ways.

If you were in charge of a similar organization, are there any things you would do differently?

I do not think there is much to change but follow the consistent flow of placing good leadership to lead the departments. Ensuring everyone wants to do a good job and have the same commitment to public service and want to accomplish the goals we set out accomplish together as a team. The “Team Gilbert” mentality is an appropriate one, it drives the employees to do a good job and ensures the employees that they are all team members. That we are all trying to accomplish the same goal for the betterment of the Town of Gilbert.

Work Everyday... [Free Write]

Last year I had a class that I was very interested in taking and it wasn't a core class but an upper-division elective for me, the class was “reservation economic development”. This class was very helpful for me to start honing my networking skills with different tribal governments and personnel. I learned a lot and learned more about my networking skills that became very helpful for me this internship, same game but just a lot of different players. One acquaintance I was able to meet and maintain a relationship with is Arizona legislative district 7 senator Carlyle Begay. During our class through invitation we had the opportunity to meet him and do a Q & A. Our class was 75% Native Americans everyone was intrigued to listen to him. Out of the whole class who attended I was the only one asking the difficult questions and not just letting him force feed us the answers. It was apparent we had differences in opinions, but I respected him, I knew I could learn from him even if he wasn't my cup of politics. Back to now, I ran into Senator Begay at a function in Gilbert and he at first did not remember me, but later took interest to where we first met. Our networking time was coming to an end but he did talk with me, I figured that was that. He later would get in contact with my supervisor Leah and request a lunch with her and I. She told me and asked if I knew Senator Begay prior, and I told her how I met him, how I questioned him, and how we talked while networking. The lunch was brief, more of a meeting, he just asked how was school, what I was in school for, and when will I be complete. There was small talk and we touched other subjects, he then told me he wanted to have another lunch when I was finishing up my internship. But before our next lunch he invited to attend a meeting with him at Arizona Senator John McCain's office. I always knew that there would be times that I would meet or be in the presence of politicians that may not be my cup of politics but how I handle it will prove if I was where I want to be with an involvement in politics. I jumped through a lot of hoops to attend this meeting but I made it, I listened, I learned, and I talked when allowed. I guess I kind of seen what was to come later, present day, before it happened. I have my lunch with Senator Begay coming up and I free write more on it...

The Hardest Working... [Free Write]

In my internship I work with a lot of different people on our team and each person brings a certain value to the team and as a whole collective we are able to function with ease because everyone does their job. But there is one person, who does more than most and I feel she doesn't always get the recognition she should. Every team meeting we have I compliment her and I always tell her “thank you” and that she is doing a good job. She plays an important role in organization, with making sure the correct information is relayed to the right people. She is very humble in her doings, as I stated I give her recognition every team meeting and she just smiles at me. I see the hard work she puts in and I can relate, as I too was once a secretary of a department. She is Mayor Lewis' secretary but also apart of our team. She maintains everyone's travel schedule and ensures everyone's RSVP's to functions. She always makes sure we get the emails we need and then sometimes calls and verifies we have received them. She is always a pleasure to work with and when I am not there I hope she gets the utmost recognition for her hard work. The co-worker I am speaking of is Vicki, the most humble, respectful, and joyous person I have worked with here in Gilbert.