Internship Reflection

       During my senior year in high school I participated in a program called Urban Alliance which allows high school seniors to work part time during the school year with up to 12 hours a week and up to 32 hours during the summer. The program was created to give young adults job experience in their desired industry, if the internship was available. Although my overall career goal is to go into the retail industry my job placement was apart of something totally opposite. I was placed at the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) in Washington, DC. I was a administrative intern, my job duties included file organization, indexing files onto a online data base, tagging, scanning, and visiting DMPED grant sites. Starting my internship wasn’t something I was excited about I thought it was going to be extremely boring being in office sitting at the desk all day typing.

        My expectation of what working at the Deputy Mayor’s office was completely wrong, the job, mentors, and other employees taught me so much. Throughout the internship I bettered my communication skills, time management, and connected with my colleagues. My first week of work I signed in and went straight to my desk and got started on work, I was afraid of being in a professional setting with people out of my age group I felt like I didn’t belong there until speaking with my boss and other employees. My boss trusted me with important projects, allowed me to work without supervision, and invited me to department lunch and parties. The trust and faith my boss and peers had for me was what made me love my job. Also visiting sites DMPED small business grant sites, before working at the office I didn't know how the rural parts of the city was getting remodeled or how new businesses was being built and after interning I got to see how much money, time, and work they put into bettering our neighborhoods. At the end of the program I was required to do a public speaking challenge that tells the audience about my job site, who I work for, what my job description is, lessons learned, venturing off to college, and more. Speaking in front of big crowds was always a fear of mine and still is, but Urban Alliance and the Deputy Mayor's office pushed me and encourage anything I had or wanted to do whether it was personal or professional. Not only did I present my public speaking challenge but I also nominated my boss for mentor of the year and delivered a speech about what kind of boss he is. The Urban Alliance program and my internship helped me realize some of the aspects I need to improve on and how working in a professional setting is.