I do not think a "typical" day is how I would describe my involvement at my internship. It is rare for me to do the same thing two days in a row, which I am very thankful for because it keeps things from becoming stale and mundane. My days continually rotate on an unpredictable basis, but some general days are spent by doing research, proofreading/editing presentations, tagging along in meetings, and/or attending relevant presentations.
Research: Pretty self-explanatory but I'll be on the computer searching for important facts/statistics we can use to further the current ventures we are undertaking. I am looking for ways to connect or link various ideas or issues in a way that the CEMHS can help accomplish the goals or resolve the issues.
Proofreading/Editing: I have spent quite a few different days reading through PowerPoint presentations looking for redundant statements, consistency in statements/acronyms, and making sure that the overall flow makes sense with a clear goal and purpose in mind.
Meetings: I have posted an entire blog regarding meetings, but these have been one of my most enjoyable experiences thus far...I'm sure that will change eventually, haha.
Presentations: I have had the opportunity to listen to a few guest speakers talk about issues that pertain to the CEMHS and it has been great to experience how issues throughout the globe cross so many barriers. They have showed me that working within EM/HS includes a lot of involvement working with various other sectors of business and how they all need to interact and assist one another.
Overall, there have been no "typical" days which is great because it means that I am not becoming board with anything. There are so many various avenues we are working on and I am getting the opportunity to work within a lot of these situations very differently.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Meetings
Now, this may sound strange to some, but the meetings I have been involved in have been NOTHING like I have expected. Generally, when I think of meetings, I think of someone in the front of a conference room with a computer, projector, and laser pointer directing everyone in the room to look at some statistics and fancy graphs. However, I have seen NONE of this...and it is fantastic.
The meetings I have been fortunate to be involved in have consisted of very accomplished individuals engaging in lots of discussion in a round-table format. While I consider myself to be there only to be "seen and not heard" and just observe, I have had the opportunity to listen to some great points and learn about things that I have very little knowledge or background in. Some of the meetings are a bit above my head in context; however, the demeanor and actions of those in the meetings are something that I can always address and learn from regardless of the context of the meeting. I have appreciated learning how people interact and challenge the thinking of their peers in very formal and business-like environment.
The meetings I have been fortunate to be involved in have consisted of very accomplished individuals engaging in lots of discussion in a round-table format. While I consider myself to be there only to be "seen and not heard" and just observe, I have had the opportunity to listen to some great points and learn about things that I have very little knowledge or background in. Some of the meetings are a bit above my head in context; however, the demeanor and actions of those in the meetings are something that I can always address and learn from regardless of the context of the meeting. I have appreciated learning how people interact and challenge the thinking of their peers in very formal and business-like environment.
The Speed of the Working World
One of the first major things that I have noticed through my internship and the people I am working with is that they like to move...fast. Many people can attest to the fact that "government work is slow" and sometimes that translates into public universities as well. In my experience dealing with ASU, it is not necessarily the quickest moving situation I have been in. Going into my internship, I didn't necessarily believe that things would move slow, but I definitely did not consider that things would be moving as fast as they are.
Many days there are dozens of emails/calls/texts/etc. exchanged in an effort to keep moving forward. While this definitely makes sense, sometimes it has become difficult to keep up with the speed of everything while also attending to my classes and other club responsibilities on campus. I recognized that the reason many of the things going on in the CEMHS are happening so quickly is because many of the people involved come from the public sector, where business moves fast. Many of them have interacted with governments and/or universities in the past, but they operate the CEMHS as a business, in the sense that communication and daily activities are rapidly moving. This has presented a challenge to me to stay on top of things and be involved after a day away where I may not get a chance to sit down at the computer and read emails until 10pm after most of the dialogue has concluded for the day. As difficult as that is to adjust to, I enjoy the speed of everything because it is presenting a challenge and really giving me an opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities.
Many days there are dozens of emails/calls/texts/etc. exchanged in an effort to keep moving forward. While this definitely makes sense, sometimes it has become difficult to keep up with the speed of everything while also attending to my classes and other club responsibilities on campus. I recognized that the reason many of the things going on in the CEMHS are happening so quickly is because many of the people involved come from the public sector, where business moves fast. Many of them have interacted with governments and/or universities in the past, but they operate the CEMHS as a business, in the sense that communication and daily activities are rapidly moving. This has presented a challenge to me to stay on top of things and be involved after a day away where I may not get a chance to sit down at the computer and read emails until 10pm after most of the dialogue has concluded for the day. As difficult as that is to adjust to, I enjoy the speed of everything because it is presenting a challenge and really giving me an opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities.
CEMHS and Me
This semester I am interning with the Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CEMHS), here at Arizona State University. The Center was founded in Fall of 2013 by three individuals in an effort to bring an emergency management and homeland security (EM/HS) research center and academic program to ASU. My daily activities with this organization vary greatly from day to day. I have been tasked with assisting in many different projects such as infectious diseases s well as human/sex trafficking, including others. My responsibilities include assisting with research in infectious diseases, human trafficking, the need for emergency management simulation labs, etc. One advantage to this is that I am getting a hand in a little bit of everything that the CEMHS is doing, and getting the opportunity to make connections and network with many people from very different backgrounds, who all seem to have a common goal - serve the public and make the world a better, and safer, place. As the semester continues, I will be tasked with continuing to assist in all areas as needed and providing support with research, editing/proofreading presentation documents, etc. I am getting the opportunity to experience, firsthand, just how diverse the EM/HS field really is and how many issues, such as infectious diseases, may present many difficulties and challenges that I have never really considered before. This internship is really challenging the scope and creativity of my thinking in an effort to see that almost anything can become a EM/HS issue.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
I am Devinn Phillips and I am a Senior undergraduate student at Arizona State University. I am originally from the Seattle, Washington area and come to ASU after completing my Associates Degree from a local community college back home. This semester I am going to be interning with the Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security at Arizona State University, which falls directly in line with my major - Public Service and Public Policy (Emergency Management and Homeland Security).
Throughout my internship, there are three main goals that I wish to achieve. The first is to begin to understand the life of a professional. Until now, I have always been a student learning in the classroom, participating in clubs and organizations, and working on homework. While I have had jobs outside of school, they have always been jobs you would expect a student to have and I have very little experience in the professional, business world. The second goal that I have is to network with professionals in my field. This internship is going to give me the opportunity to network both within the academic and business worlds and it is incredibly important to reach out and show my enthusiasm for my field of work starting as soon as possible. As the saying goes, "it is not what you know, it is who you know" and the internship is a great opportunity to get to know many professionals within the emergency management and homeland security fields. A third goal I have for my internship is to gain a complete and better understanding of the emergency management and homeland security fields. I've had the opportunity to learn in the classroom, but sometimes it can be hard to see how the classroom learning will be applicable to the real world. My third goal focuses on taking the classroom learning and seeing how it can directly correlate to the professional world.
Throughout my internship, there are three main goals that I wish to achieve. The first is to begin to understand the life of a professional. Until now, I have always been a student learning in the classroom, participating in clubs and organizations, and working on homework. While I have had jobs outside of school, they have always been jobs you would expect a student to have and I have very little experience in the professional, business world. The second goal that I have is to network with professionals in my field. This internship is going to give me the opportunity to network both within the academic and business worlds and it is incredibly important to reach out and show my enthusiasm for my field of work starting as soon as possible. As the saying goes, "it is not what you know, it is who you know" and the internship is a great opportunity to get to know many professionals within the emergency management and homeland security fields. A third goal I have for my internship is to gain a complete and better understanding of the emergency management and homeland security fields. I've had the opportunity to learn in the classroom, but sometimes it can be hard to see how the classroom learning will be applicable to the real world. My third goal focuses on taking the classroom learning and seeing how it can directly correlate to the professional world.
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