Free Write

Today is Friday and I am at work until 5PM. I just got back from an unexpected fire drill! I work to the top floor of a 10-story building that probably houses over a thousand people. Fire drills are always so chaotic and I would hate to see what would happen during a REAL emergency! Most women dress professionally and that included high-heeled shoes. It is very difficult to go down 10 flights of stairs wearing high heels. Not to mention the fact that hundreds of other people are trying to go down the stairs at the same time as you.

I was very intimidated to work in downtown Phoenix because the area is so congested with people and buildings. The streets are confusing because certain streets only allow traffic to go one way, some streets only allow you to turn left during specific times a day and there is virtually no parking. Luckily my building is right off the freeway and I have a parking garage to park in. Other Maricopa County offices/departments have to pay to park in a parking garage and they do not get reimbursed. Luckily I get to park for free!

Leadership

Leadership plays a role in my internship project because I am basically supervising myself during this project. My supervisor came up with the main project idea but has left the rest to me. I have to determine which information is needed and what sources to use. I am able to gather and analyze information for my project when I have downtime at work. I have to use my time wisely so that my internship project does not affect my regular duties.

I feel that I am able to demonstrate leadership skills because I am learning new information with my research and rewriting processes and procedures that other employees in the office will follow. My project is based on processing liquor licenses which is a function of my office. When I learn new information, I am also sharing that with other employees and answering their questions.

Leadership is displayed by every employee in my small office. Each person is assigned to specific tasks and each person is the “expert” on that task. For example, one co-worker is in charge of Special Taxing Districts within Maricopa County. She is the expert on this subject and is able to make decisions. She is also able to work with other employees who need to learn about Special Taxing Districts and delegate tasks to them.

Supervisor Interview

As I have previously explained, I am doing my internship with my current employer: Maricopa County Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. In addition to my regular duties, I am doing a special project regarding liquor license processes and procedures.

For this blog entry, I chose to profile one of my supervisors. My supervisor Janet has worked in this department for almost 10 years and has been a supervisor for 3 years now.

The main job responsibilities of her position are to:

·        publish agendas for Board of Supervisors every 2 weeks

·        work with different departments to add items on the agenda

·        process documents from that were approved at each meeting

Janet only has her Associates Degree but she has numerous years of experience working in an administrative position and with local government agencies. She attends training sessions to better her supervisor skills. Janet also attends training when new features are added to the software program that our office uses to create agendas. She uses this knowledge to train the other employees in the office.

I would be interested in this position because it will be different duties than what I am currently doing. I like to be challenged and I feel this position would do just that. This position also will be an increase in pay for me.

Career Service Event

This afternoon I attended the first “Meet the Chiefs Speaker Series” event located at ASU’s Downtown campus. Professor Gonsher has put together 3 of these events that will happen in the next few weeks. Each event will feature an individual who is currently working as a Chief of Staff and/or Policy Advisor for an elected official in Arizona. Also, pizza and drinks are provided! :)

The speaker from this afternoon was Luis Heredia, District Director for U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego. If you have even been to the UCENT building at the Downtown Campus, U.S. Congressman Gallego’s office is located right across from the MidFirst bank on the first floor.

Mr. Heredia started his presentation by giving an overview of how he first got involved with politics and discussed highlights of his resume. His previous employment included Executive Director of the Arizona Democratic Party, Public Affairs Director for Union Pacific Railroad Company and Community Relations Director for Congressman Raul Grijalva. Mr. Heredita spoke about his hard working immigrant family and how that aspect of his life has made him more economically aware.  

The part that I enjoyed most about this presentation was the part where students were able to ask Mr. Heredia questions. It appeared that the students who attended the event had an interest in politics and might want to purpose a career in politics. One of the questions was regarding the very low voter turn-out rates for District 7. Mr. Heredia stated that his district the third poorest district in the entire country and that more than 50 percent of the resident rent the home they live in. He explained that it is more difficult for his constituents to remember to update their voter registration cards each time they vote and that may attribute to the low voter turn-outs.

Free Write

For my free write assignment, I thought I would share a little bit about myself. J

I am 29 years old and have lived in the Phoenix-Metropolitan area my entire life. I currently live in Glendale with my husband, 2 children and our puppy.

Riley, my older son, is 10-years old and in 5^th grade. He enjoys riding his bike, roller skating and playing video games. He also enjoys spending time with his grandparents and fishing.

Nicolas, 10-months old, is the newest addition to our family.  He likes to put everything in his mouth, cry in the middle of the night and throw various objects around the house. Nicolas was a long-awaited arrival and he is definitely a blessing to our family.

Ella is a 2-year old, shih-tzu/toy poodle (shih-poo) that is just 6 pounds. She is the most loving, well-behaved dog I could ever ask for. She enjoys bows in her hair and getting her belly rubbed.  

If you did the math, you would see that I became pregnant with my older son shortly after graduating high school. Instead of accepting the full-ride scholarship that I earned for graduating 10^th in my high school class, I decided to take a semester off school before starting college and got pregnant during that time. While all my friends were are college studying/partying, I was at home being a fulltime worker and mother.

When my older son started Kindergarten (2010), I decided it was time to start community college. Next semester I will finally graduate with my BA. It only took 6 years!

It was kind of weird to be one of the older students in class, but I think it also worked to my advantage. I was able to concentrate on my studies instead of trying to find someone to date. I have a 3.75 GPA J.

My big presentation

The Clerks Retreat was different from anything that I had ever experienced.  I was surprised to find out that 14 out of the 15 county clerks in Arizona are women; and the only male clerk sent his deputy clerk (a female) to attend in his absence. The county clerks all stayed the same Phoenix hotel and used their conference rooms for meetings. The day time was reserved to discuss work related matters, the evenings were designated for leisure/personal time and meals were eaten as a group.

My presentation was scheduled for Friday morning at 9 AM (the final day of the retreat). When I arrived at the hotel, I was directed to a small outdated conference room with a little “kitchen area” in the corner. Some of the clerks brought their deputy clerks with them, so there were about 20 people in attendance. The clerks were in the middle of discussing a topic so I sat quietly to the side.

The speech that I drafted for my presentation included a brief introduction about me and my internship project, and then would specifically discuss how changes with the liquor license process would affect their office. I previously shared this information with my supervisor before I knew that I would be tasked with presented at the retreat.

When it was time for my presentation, my supervisor went into great detail when she introduced me and ended up explaining several points that were outlined in my speech. When it was my time to talk – I was stunned and didn’t know where to begin. I had to quickly scan my outline and figure out what points my supervisor did not discuss.

In the end, I was able to deliver the necessary information and respond to people’s comments. Both of my supervisors that were in attendance praised my presentation and said I was confident and well prepared. They had no idea that their introduction messed me up.    

How my project was changed

As I mentioned in my previous post, the original structure of my internship project had to change. One of the aspects of my project was to attend bi-monthly “working group” meetings with the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control to discuss/improve current liquor license processes. However, without any prior warning, the Dept. of Liquor made the decision to postpone all future meetings until further notice.

My supervisors were able to restructure my internship project to include a presentation at the Arizona County Clerks Association (ACCA) annual retreat. The ACCA is comprised of the clerks from all 15 counties in Arizona (including my supervisor). Conveniently, this retreat was being hosted by my supervisor the following week and she was able to add my presentation to the agenda. My supervisor suggested that I inform the other clerks about any upcoming changes or concerns that were discussed at the Dept. of Liquor working group meetings. (I had attended 6 meetings before they were postponed.)

So basically I had just a few days to prepare for this presentation that I would be giving to my supervisor and her peers. I had to gather all of the notes I had from the 6 meetings and decide which information was important enough to share. I also had to figure out how I wanted to present the information – either with handouts, a PowerPoint presentation or with just a regular speech.

I will tell you more about how the presentation went in my next post.