Coming On Board: Better Late Than Never

Hello Everyone! My name is Edith Baltierrez and I am three weeks away from finishing up my Masters in Public Administration. Woo-hoo! In the meantime, I will provide as much content on my experiences regarding my internship with the City of Avondale.

Currently, I work for the Water Resources Department as a part-time Management Assistant/Intern. I have been with the department since June of 2008. I work anywhere from 20-28 hours per week. But, I feel like I'm cramming 40 hours worth of work during those hours. However, I'm not complaining as many of the projects I have been allowed to work on have been very meaningful and exciting. The department is actually letting me do more than just busy work which makes the time go by so much faster and I always enjoy coming to work because I just never know what's waiting for me.

I work directly with the Director and Assistant Director of the department. Wayne (my director) and Marilyn (the assistant) are some of the best bosses I have ever worked for. They have really allowed me to make the most out of my internship experience. I get to work on the department's budget, personnel issues, be a part of high-profile projects and meetings. Basically, wherever I can assist they let me run with it. Plus, I love their management style. They are both pretty hands-off. When they give me a project, they say "this is what I'd like you to do but I'm not sure how you'll go about doing it but you're a smart person so I know you'll figure it out." And then, I go off and figure it out and get the job done. This works for me because I'm pretty self-motivated and I like the independence.