My name is Liz Garrow and I will be entering my third year at the University of

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1 Liz Garrow Interdisciplinary Studies 399 Letters& Science Comprehensive Paper My name is Liz Garrow and I will be entering my third year at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh this fall. I have selected a major in business and a minor in Public Administration. This past summer, summer 2012, I had an internship with the Township of Grand Chute starting in May 2012 and going through August I devoted most of my time to the administration department of Grand Chute which includes: the town administrator, the town clerk, the deputy clerk, finance, plan commission, and town board. The Town of Grand Chute also has departments in, community development, fire, police, public works, court, and parks and recreation. I had seven goals for my internship. The first was to be exposed to a mock emergency and watch the Town s response. I accomplished this my very first week on the job. A state agency came in and conducted a mock emergency with the Town s department heads. The mock emergency was a tornado. The state agency had set up scenarios like a water pipe breaking, trees blocking roadways, and citizens calling in to ask questions. The department heads had planned ahead and they were divided into groups of three. It all seemed extremely organized to me, but also still chaotic. This was my first project as an intern and it was very interesting. My second goal was to participate in strategic planning. I do feel like I accomplished this goal because I was a part of the recall election preparation. I wish I would have been able to attend the meetings where it was decided how to plan the preparation. However, just taking part in the preparation, the election, and post-election I feel I have a good grasp of the process. My third goal was to understand the day to day tasks of a town employee. This goal is almost silly because I know now there is no such thing as a day to day task for the department heads. Every one of their days 1

2 are different and even if they had their day planned out, a wrench will probably be thrown in. I can t decide if I would like that aspect of a job or not. I enjoy routines and knowing what I am planning to do, but I do not think I would want the same routine for years of my life. The fourth goal I wrote down was to increase my knowledge in the election process, and wow, I sure accomplished that! I worked closely with the town clerk and the deputy clerk in both the recall election and the August primary election. The election planning and preparation process always started three weeks before the actual Election Day. I prepared documents like the address listing, the invalid voters listing, an election manual, I registered voters, and I also prepped the polling locations to the standards of the state election board. I handled and explained absentee ballots, I worked with secured documents, and I also worked as a poll worker for both elections. I very much enjoyed working with the elections, but the most difficult part was the post-election when all documents and ballots had to verified and checked by the canvassing board which included me. I am very grateful to have been a part of two elections and such a historic one like the recall election. My fifth goal was to be exposed to all department heads and their duties. I did not accomplish this goal. I worked with the town administrator, the town clerk, community development, and parks and recreation. The departments I did not work with include the police, the fire department, finance, court, and public works. I do wish I could have been exposed to both police and the fire department but I didn t really know how to request it. I believe this is one of my professional weaknesses; I could to be more assertive. I do not see my future in finance, court or public works so zero exposure to their departments hasn t affected me. The sixth goal I had was to understand town budgets and their creation. Unfortunately, the budget creation process starts the day I move back to school so that was just bad timing. I was able to sit in on presentation of the Town s annual financial report. The budget is essential to the town and 2

3 right now I am just glad I don t have to decide how and where to spend money. My last goal was to participate in community business development. Community development was my favorite department, mostly because of the head of the department, Bob Buckingham, but also because of their duties. I very much enjoyed sitting in on meetings and finding out where new businesses are moving into the town. The Town of Grand Chute has a population of 22,000 and growing, the Town is located right next to Appleton WI, and the Town is really starting to develop. I did like to meet with businesses to see how they interacted versus how community development acted because I am both a business and a public administration student. I was able to reach out to the businesses for our Town s festival. I talked to businesses about sponsorships, donations, and our business expo that is located in the festival. I didn t enjoy this aspect as much because I don t think I am a good persuader. It was a great experience though. All in all, I feel like my seven goals were accomplished. I believe my internship brought a different development to my skill set than my peers internship. I am very structured and organized person and I always have been. This internship has taught me to loosen up more in a work place atmosphere. In the beginning of summer I would be frustrated if I had called someone and they didn t call me back until a day or two later, or when I had a long term project like the elections and the work load seemed to be never ending. I have realized now that there will always be work and that being flexible is one of the most important parts of being successful. My knowledge has also increased; it is one thing to sit in a classroom and talk about how budgets are important, but it is another to listen to a town board discuss how tax payers money should be spent, usually in front of the tax payers that are divided on the subject. I am excited to start my public administration classes and be able to integrate what I learned from my internship into my studies. 3

4 I do hope and believe that Grand Chute benefitted from my internship. My two biggest projects were the elections and the town s festival. I think I was essential to the election process because I was able to work with the state documents and the state system. The town clerk and the deputy clerk do all of the elections by themselves, but because the recall election was not planned for and the September primary was moved to August that made the work load more difficult. I believe I saved the clerks from many long days. The committee really put me in charge of the children s activities, younger adult activities, and the business expo. I had to type and register forms for permits and talk to businesses about sponsorship. I was able to have a donation of two outdoor volleyball nets, and I delegated tasks to a volunteer for children s games. I usually made contact with a person or a business, talked to my supervisor, and then agreed to a contract. Unfortunately, the festival takes place during my job training at school so I won t be able to attend, but I think it will go great! This was as I like to call it my first real job. I had worked as a waitress previously and I am a community advisor on campus, but working at Grand Chute was my first grown up job experience. I believe my biggest strength is taking directions. I only need instructions once and I always complete the task on time. I take good quality notes that can be understood by most everyone. I do believe I am a good worker and my supervisor gave me high marks on my midsemester evaluation. The weakness that is most prevalent with me would be my ability to work with other people. At Grand Chute most of the time I would be given a list of tasks to complete, I would go to my make-shift office and complete the tasks by myself, and I loved this. I didn t need to work with other people and the couple of times I did, I didn t enjoy it. No matter what job I have in the future, I will have to work with other people and the fact that I don t enjoy it 4

5 worries me. However, through more business classes I believe I will be able to learn how to work in a group dynamic and maybe even enjoy it a bit. I am very excited to update my resume; this internship will help me so much in the upcoming year and beyond. I have to complete an internship for my business major and I hope to have a leg up on my peers for having previous internship experience and for having great references. I have been asked to help out with elections on campus in the fall and I look forward to making more networking connections during that opportunity. Overall my internship experience was everything I wanted it to be and more. My supervisors were great and I was really able to understand the Township. The reason I wanted to do this internship was to get exposure and see if public administration was right for me. This was a great way to spend my summer and I learned so much. I am so fortunate for this opportunity and being able to receive college credit for it! 5