Public Service within CEMHS

It’s really easy to say that the Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security demonstrates public service because it is housed within the College of Public Service and Community Solutions. But, what is it about the CEMHS that allows us to have this impact?

Ultimately, we are working to research solutions for anything and everything Emergency Management and Homeland Security related, and the most effective way to implement these solutions for the betterment of our communities. For example, looking into way in which to reduce the time it takes for testing and identifying someone who may have an infectious disease, such as Ebola, to ensure that they are less likely to infect others and also allow for quicker response to aid them. Another instance is looking into way in which we can improve the training time and efficiency for first responders and incident command to ensure that they are the most efficient possible to minimize the amount of damage to people and property. Not only are we looking at ways in which this stuff can be accomplished, but also how WE could accomplish it and what it would take for us to take the research we have gather and package it so that we can utilize our new information. In the world of EM/HS there are so many “what-ifs” and, as a result, there are many agencies and organizations that would be needed to assist and aid in the efforts. As part of our public service and community driven approach we continue to look into the most effective ways to utilize various groups/agencies and create a cooperative plan for all kinds of disaster situations, no matter the scope.

The Final Countdown

As the end of the semester draws more near with each passing moment, I am beginning to reflect a lot of my life at ASU and how these past 2.5 years have changed me. I cannot believe that I will be graduating in 4.5 weeks, considering I started my undergraduate college career 6 years ago. The challenges I have faced and the obstacles that I have overcome really make me realize how much I have grown and matured, especially after coming to ASU.

Leading into the "real world" I know that I am going to be facing many new challenges and obstacles that I haven't even remotely considered. It is a bit scary to think about all of the unknowns that are ahead. I can feel myself becoming more and more anxious with each day, but excitedly anxious. While taking a moment to reflect and realize all that I have been apart of, it makes me understand how and why things happened they way that they did. Initially, I never thought I would attend college out of state, especially coming somewhere like ASU, but it was the greatest decision that I have made thus far.

The opportunity to be part of the College of Public Service and Community Solutions, in the capacity that I have, has opened my eyes and given more than I ever could have imagined. As someone who changed their major 6 times (yes, 6...) I never initially thought that I would end up in EM/HS and how that would affect that person I have become. The people I have met, the organizations I have been involved with, and the opportunities, including my internship, have shown me a lot about myself and what makes me feel that I am living a successful life. To me, I measure my success by my ability and willingness to help others, and the College of Public Service has really shown me what that means.

My tank was drained

This semester has caused me to invest a lot of time into my classes as well as my internship and my job. As a result, I neglected a lot of personal time for myself in lieu of catching up on sleep or schoolwork and just trying to keep my head above water. There was a point a few weeks ago where a friend called me out on it, telling me that they could see that I wasn't being my normal self. This led them to introducing me to a YouTube video which discuss the importance of input-output as related to your life. When times get tough, and you become swamped in work related tasks, it becomes even more important that you take time to do fun events, even though it may not seem the most productive.

You see, all of these work related tasks, and school work, etc. all are considered "outputs". If you think of yourself as a holding tank, these are the things that drain your tank. Now, the fun things in your life that you do for yourself are "inputs", and these are the things you do that fill your tank. If there is a greater amount of output than input, it will cause your tank to become empty, which is where the stress and anxiety come in. This is where I was at. My tank was completely dry. Taking the time to find things that can replenish and fill your tank become even more important because it means that you have more to give...more output. After identifying what the "outputs" and "inputs" are in your life, it can lead to a much more balanced, and productive life. Taking the steps to identify these things for me was a great improvement, and in the two weeks since then, I have noticed a considerable increase in my "quality of life". I am putting more effort into everything and everything seems to have slowed down and allowed me to relax and breathe a bit more.

Leadership and Change

One of the classes for my major, Leadership and Change (which, if I recall correctly, is PAF 311 or something like that) focused on how you can incite change as a leader...imagine that. But more so, what I have learned from my internship, and the other leadership roles I have this semester, is how leadership is changing ME. I have the greatest amount of responsibility this semester thanks to my active leadership roles on campus and the groups that I am part of.

Through my internship, I have seen that leadership is huge. Because I am not always reporting to an office, I am required to take leadership and get the necessary work accomplished without someone constantly looking over my shoulder. This can make it incredibly easy to push things aside, or lose sight of the priorities I have in my life. Undertaking more leadership, has led me to better understand and reevaluate my obligations and the importance of various things in my life. This has led to great growth, and with this growth, comes the growing pains.

Thankfully, I have been able to work with others, both peers and supervisors, who have helped me understand and identify the bigger priorities in my life. Until now, I used to let a lot of the smaller details in life get to me and cause me stress. However, now I see from the efforts of others that there are much bigger responsibilities in life, and while the little things may be important, eventually, they aren't always the most important things right at that exact moment. Being able to see my peers and supervisors prioritize their lives has shown me that this efficiency allows them to make a greater impact. Not just professionally, but personally as well. The encouragement I get from those around me, as well as an understanding, is helping me succeed much more than I initially expected that I would.

Senioritis. It does exist.

One of the biggest, constant, struggles I have encountered throughout this semester is the senioritis. Anyone who has been in high school, or in college, can attest that senioritis is a thing, and boy do I have it. With my graduation date coming at the end of the semester, I am having more and more trouble taking my tasks day-by-day and I am constantly looking into the post-college future, fearfully. It is crazy to think that when we leave for winter break, I will not be coming back to ASU…at least for now. After spending the last 5ish years of my life consistently in college, it’ll be time for me to take that next step into adulthood, and that is a scary thought. As much as I know I am prepared, I am still facing the “unknown” of what I will be doing and where I will be. While trying to focus on the challenges and tasks of today, I constantly finding myself wondering about the unknowns I will be facing in the very short future.

Profile/Interview

For this blog, I am choosing to profile/interview Rick Dale, the Director for the Center of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CEMHS), where I am completing my internship. Rick’s main role with CEMHS is all things research related. His background comes from public safety in the private sector, while working alongside various public and nonprofit agencies throughout the country. Rick got into public safety after working as a police officer for his hometown police department. He eventually began his own company, iXP Corp, which focused on public safety communication systems. After leaving the company in summer 2013, he came to ASU to help lead the CEMHS.

            Educationally, the Emergency Management/Homeland Security degrees are fairly new and uncommon. If the field is specifically EM/HS related, a Bachelor’s Degree, with appropriate work/internship experience, could be all that is needed. However, a Master’s Degree in EM/HS never looks bad either. The EM/HS career field is full of individuals who learned the job as it became a job following events like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc. As a result, the formal education component is quite new.

            One thing that he would stress to someone interested in EM/HS is the idea of creativity in solutions. In addition, it is also important to not only find the solutions, but deliver them as well. A lot of the work done within this field is very proactive and requires forward-thinking. You have to think ahead and prepare for any “what-if” scenarios that you can. With the advancements of new technology, you can utilize these new advancements in EM/HS relief efforts to provide more creative, and efficient, solution delivery.

            This field interests me because it serves the public and allows for creativity and utilization of various things. It’s an opportunity to coordinate efforts between various public/private/nonprofit sectors from all over the region, state, and even the nation. At the end of the day, it will create a better environment and a better solution for our communities which will lead to improved cooperation and a stronger society.

Communication and the age of emails

Emails. All of them. Participating in this internship has cause my daily email counts to skyrocket and extended 3-4x more than I was getting per day. In addition, I have various other campus organizations and, as an instructor, also plenty of emails from students. All of this has led me to completely reorganizing my email inbox in an effort to better manage and communicate with higher priority and efficiency. My internship doesn't always involve me sitting in an office and oftentimes we will communicate daily via an email chain with 12-15 people. This makes it incredibly difficult to manage communications and even participate in the discussion when I am also in the process of going to class or working at my job. By sorting my emails appropriately and not having one giant inbox, I have learned a much better way to manage my professional/academic communications. In addition, I have also utilized the Outlook Calendar to keep a schedule for meetings/events/classes/etc. It has become very effective in helping me better manage my communication, and my time.