The final thoughts I have about this WLE is bittersweet.  I love that I was able to get such a unique experience and I had a wonderful time here.  It’s unfortunate that my school program has to come to an end.  I feel like I am part of the office and it is disappointing that I must leave.  One upside to this is that I will no longer have a long commute and to wake up extra-early to come to the office.  As I look back I remember all the things I learned, so many skills I cannot count them on my hand.  I also remember all the smiles I had as well as the embarrassing moments, largely due to Bob Twomey’s love for picking on me.  The absolute final thought is that I have left my mark on the office.  I remember when Bob put my name on “my stool,” so if I ever come back I will be able to not only see my picture on the wall, but also see my name on the stool.

                This experience affects my future because I am so much better prepared for the workplace in terms of working well in an office.  I have gained valuable skills that I can apply to my everyday life such as time management and communication.  This experience gave me a much better view of how demanding the occupations in government are.  Now, I know that I would rather do something unrelated to the political branch.  I am thankful for my mentors for letting me intern at this office and I hope to at least visit in the future.

            Today, I spent most of my time babysitting my nephew.  When I got to the office, I completed my blog and revisedthe TOTT Vision for my project.

            As an intern, I have grown significantly in communication.  My mentor even said that I have been on my “A game.”  In the past, my communication was inconsistent, now I have grown in becoming a professional intern.  This workplace has been very helpful in developing me in terms of my work ethic and professionalism.  I have learned the importance in creating an agenda and I have realized how effective this is in getting more work done.  In addition to time management skills, I have learned a lot about managing projects.  It is incredibly important to ask for clarification when one is struggling.  I have grown as an intern because I scheduled meetings with my mentors to get clarification on the project. 

            There are many things that make my workplace a very desirable place to work.  The positives range from the aesthetic office to the quality of my mentors.  The office is situated a top the state building in the civic center and there is a beautiful view of the plaza.  Within the office there are many posters, photos, and awards.  Even though there are a lot of pieces on the wall, the office is very organized and easy to navigate.  Above all, my favorite part of this workplace is the compassion of the workplace.  All of my mentors sincerely want to help their interns with developing stronger job skills.  My mentors know the right balance between helping the intern and allowing autonomy.  My mentors allow the intern to work through their duties, but they are also willing to help that person in understanding how to do their work.  These mentors are very understanding with scheduling.  I like to think that the intern schedule is flexible, so long as the intern effectively communicates with the mentors.  Even though this is true, interns are still expected to align with their original scheduled hours.

        In order to get hired as an intern I had to be extremely professional from the very first phone call.  When I called I made sure to use appropriate language and attempted to “sell-myself.”  The intern coordinator scheduled an interview and I brought my best-self.  I had to dress professionally (dress shirt, dress shoes, slacks and a tie). I remembered to bring my, resume, photo ID, and other important internship documents.  During the interview, I had to be extremely professional and friendly (this comes ‘naturally’).  Once I was accepted into the workplace, I continued to remain professional and stay on my ‘A-game.’ 

        From this and prior experience, I know that the most influential thing in looking for a job and getting hired is “selling oneself.”  Although I did not have to try too hard to sell my abilities in order to get this internship, it is critical that one knows how to present himself when searching for a job.  Workplaces love free labor, but it is still important to be an attractive candidate for the job because establishments do not want “dead-weight.”

        In my opinion, being professional means speaking and acting properly as well as dressing nicely.  In other words, a professional speaks audibly and uses proper dialect.  A strong professional speaks with eloquence and has some vehemence in his/her voice.  In terms of actions, a professional walks upright and does not do anything boisterous in the office/establishment (unless that’s what the job demand).  A professional must consistently work and be willing to sacrifice some things for his job (this may include time and fun activities).  With dress code, professionals must wear “nice clothing” that is modest and the clothes are usually simple (color and design).  Dressing professionally also means keeping clothes well kept and ironed and the person must be well groomed.  Above all, a professional must put their best self forward without going over the top and giving an impression of acting or insincerity.

                Throughout this experience, I have learned many things about myself.  I have learned a lot of what I can and can’t do.  I learned that I can communicate effectively when I need something from another person.  On the other hand, I learned that I tend to struggle when I was given new tasks.  When I was first assigned with a task, such as completing the Pedestrian Safety Project, I had difficulties getting accustomed to working on this project.  I needed a lot of help from my mentors to find out what I should do and how I should do it.  My main challenge I n this workplace was getting used to the procedures.  The procedures are very formal and almost everything must follow a specific format.  I overcame this challenge by taking advantage of the resources available such as the “intern-handbook” and more experienced interns/mentors.  On the very first day, I learned to account for my core values.  I had to sit down and carefully analyzed what I wanted.  I learned that one of my core values is friendliness. I learned that people enjoy the company of someone who is compassionate and polite.  My WLE placement greatly affected me in terms of giving me exposure to a very professional environment.  This WLE helped me become accustomed to this kind of workplace and now I am no longer nervous in this setting. 

                Previously, I did not know how demanding the life of an Assembly member was and is.  I learned that there are many people “working behind the scenes” in order to alleviate the great amount of work and pressure delegated to an assembly person such as Fiona Ma.

                Some specific skills I learned and grew in during this project is project management.  This project has been one of the most independent and unstructured projects I am working on.  I definitely grew in my ability to improve in completing a project that I am very unfamiliar with.  I would say the work I did here was both important and worthwhile because I am helping my mentors who serve Fiona who in turn serves the community of San Francisco.  In short, I played a small role in helping the San Francisco Community.  What I learned here will help my future because I learned valuable office skills and I learned how to become much more professional in terms of communication, dressing, and work.  All in all, these skills will help me in my college career and beyond. 

            Without a doubt, the leadership skill I am utilizing the most in this office is effective communication. Throughout the day, I constantly have to apply this skill to be successful.  In a typical day, I have to interact with mentors and make sure they know what is “going on.”  In addition, I help answer calls to the office.   When I answer the calls I am very helpful to the caller in terms of catering to their needs.  On the other hand, I tend to make minor mistakes such as noting down the caller’s name before I transfer them to the correct representative.  I also needed to utilize effective communication when scheduling time for meetings and help.  My workplace provides me with a lot of autonomy, it is my responsibility to reach out for help and ask for clarification.  I am good at contacting my mentors via email, but I need to improve on making sure these meetings are placed into the schedule.  Another instance of my use of effective communication was when I was sick last week.  I made sure to alert my mentors that I was feeling under the weather Monday night and follow up my condition on Tuesday morning.   Although I may not have perfected this skill, I am doing a few things right and I am on my way to becoming an extremely effective communicator.

            On the other hand my mentors clearly use all the leadership skills, but the one that stands out to me is effective project management.  Each mentor has a manifold of policies and tasks they have to study and complete.  My mentors make sure to plan out their day and projects in order to complete them efficiently.  They have nearly perfected the art of managing numerous projects.  Each mentor works well to finish their projects in a timely manner as well as complete them with proficiency.

I was sick on Nov. 8th so I was not able to attend my WLE, therefore I did not do anything at my WLE.  My mentor and I have talked about my project before and the project has a good start.  My mentor and I talked about my tasks and responsibilities for the project and all I have to do is carry out the project.  So far I have planned out my project and created a timeline, but currently I am slightly behind in my project because I was not at my internship this last Tuesday.  As of now, I have confirmed school contact information and I have familiarized myself with the project and its goals.  Now I have to obtain the contact information for muni, SFPD, and insurance firms.

            For my WLE project, I plan to complete the Pedestrian Safety Project in terms of setting everything up so the next person can carry out the parade.  I will confirm the contact information of the schools and partnerships such as San Francisco Police Department.  I will also get organize sponsorship for the parade by talking to insurance companies.  Hopefully, I will draft a possible route for the parade.  My goal is to get the participants and sponsors information and confirm each organization’s participation.  If I do this, I will successfully complete my project.  I am excited to do this project because I am helping laying the ground work for a parade that will likely happen in the civic center during the spring of 2012.  This project was not my idea, rather the vision was made before I started my WLE.  This project aligns with my duties of the office (researching and serving Pedestrian Safety and Junior ROTC).  I Over the next 4 weeks, I will split up the work for this project.  Next week, I will obtain contact information for SFMTA, SFPD, and JROTC participants.  I will also gain sponsor contact information from AAA, Geico, State Farm, and Farmers Insurance.  During the second week, I will contact these groups and ask for participation.  The following week, I will confirm these groups participation.  In the final week, I will suggest a route for the parade and synthesize my work into one document.  Throughout these four weeks I will meet with my mentor and other interns working on this project to discuss my work and receive feedback. 

My main responsibilities are to calendar Special Events and complete a Pedestrian Safety project.  When I calendar special events, I gather information about parades and related events and I place them into an excel document.  Some of the information included are times, dates, streets, and a correlating website.   My other main duty is to complete a Pedestrian Safety Project that utilizes local Jr. ROTC programs and K-8 schools to help increase pedestrian safety within the youth of San Francisco.  This role is coincides with my WLE project, ultimately “killing two birds with one stone.”   In addition to these two roles, I am responsible for conducting research on transportation, the Southern Hills district, and Junior ROTC.  I do not have a title, but I am an assistant in each of the aforementioned roles and responsibilities.  I also have some traditional duties as an intern for an office.  Occasionally, my mentor will ask to send fax, copy papers, organize documents, and answer the phone.  Seldom, my mentor will ask me to get lunch or coffee. 

                On a regular day, I would enter the office at 8:00 am and gather my documents from my cubby.  After I settle in, I sit at a desk begin calendaring out my day.  After that, I work independently on my main duties throughout the whole.  Occasionally, I would research my other responsibilities in order to have a “pseudo-break” from my primary roles.  At about noon I would go on my lunch break and come back refreshed and ready to complete the second half of my day.  In the second half of the day, I would allocate time to complete my blog and sign off my time sheet.  Arbitrarily throughout the day, I would answer phone calls and email the corresponding district representative the information.  Whenever, I feel weary or overwhelmed, I take a short 5 minute break to regain composure and have a snack or use the restroom.  At around 5 pm I sign-out and go home. 

My workplace is called the Office of Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.  We assist in the legislative work of Assemblywoman Fiona Ma while best serving all Californians.  This is a small business office in San Francisco.  We are near city hall and our office is on the fourteenth floor of a federal building.  When one walks into the office, he or she enters the main hallway where the mentors’ desks are located against the wall on the opposite wall is an intern desk.  To the right of the entrance is the district director’s office.  At the end of the primary hallway are separate rooms that overlook City hall’s plaza.  This workplace employs college educated people that are interested in working under Fiona Ma.  My workplace welcomes interns; age and experience widely varies from high school students to middle aged citizens.  Most workers have a bachelor’s college degree and some interns are working on their college degree.  On a typical Tuesday, 4 district representatives, 3 interns (including me), and the district director are present.  My workplace serves constituents.  We serve these people through helping organizing events.  We also serve Fiona Ma by assisting in the legislative work and sorting through information.  The greatest strength of my workplace is how friendly this place is to interns.  The office usually schedules the intern’s work time based on how available the intern is.  My workplace also allows interns to submit preferences in what they want to do in the office.  In addition, there is a thoroughly detailed intern handbook that provides answers and procedures to common questions that interns might have.  In my opinion, there are miniscule weaknesses in my workplace.  The main weakness for me is that it is located in San Francisco and far from my house.  Otherwise, minor weaknesses such as older computers are negligible.