Taking on this internship has been the perfect way to complete my transformative year. I applied for the internship program on a whim for the express purpose of having something to do for the summer. There was not much investment on my part in getting the internship, I was perfectly happy with wasting time at home until I flew off to Shanghai, though in hindsight, I am glad that I was given this opportunity. Being an intern has been eye opening and rewarding experience. I cannot imagine having a more life changing eight weeks.
This in no way means that the internship went perfectly. On the onset there was the problem of my less than ideal office assignment and later there were some problems of team dynamics. I realize now that a big part for the success of this internship was because I went out of my way to make it my own.
My assignment at the assemblymember's was the biggest disappointment of the internship. For the first two weeks I was stuck doing calls for inviting people to an intern reception. My only escape from calls came from a staffer who wanted to get away from the office and took pity on me. Melissa, who was the intern coordinator for the office, had very little to offer besides a nice personality. She did not have much experience with politics, since this was her first full time job out of college. I am at a loss at how the assemblymember's office was so highly praised by chair of the non-profit. It had probably something to do with the fact that the Assembly member was terming out, and everyone in the office was looking for a job.
Being allowed to work at the non-profit office really salvaged this summer for me. I am glad I stepped up and complained as loudly and ardently as I did, because throughout my time at the non-profit, the director was a great mentor. His eagerness to share his experiences in politics has been nothing short of enlightening. The director is chockfull of stories and sage advice that I would have never heard, had I simply stayed at the assemblymember's office. In addition, he always took the time to answer my questions, no matter how simple, and because of this, I was able to know the backgrounds I of the elected officials that I met, making it easier for me to talk to them. Most importantly, however, the director let me have my own projects in the office and asked for input on many of the things that he was working on. In fact, at times it was a bit overwhelming because he would ask for my opinions on things that I felt were far too important for me. Almost every day at the office was an experience to be remembered. I am not sure whether it was his union background or just his personality but things in office were always very open. Many times, office behavior from both of us deviated far from professionalism, but that was what made it so great to work with the director. I could always be honest in my opinion around him and if we disagreed, we simply agreed to disagree. There were never any hard feelings. I did not realize the full extent of how much of a mentor the director was for me until a week before the end of the program, and now that I have, I have come to value my time at the non-profit office all the more.
