This internship experience has been such a fun learning experience. I have learned so much about the field but also about myself as a professional while working here.
My position has been for the office of Council Member Greg Casar at city hall. I have had this internship position since January of this year and have since grown very comfortable with my position in the office and all of the new responsibilities I am given. Recently my supervisor changed my title to District Director which I found very exciting and was very appreciative of. It feels really amazing to work in an office where I feel appreciated as well as looked out for. The group of people that I work with have been the most supportive team that I have worked for, and although the difficulty of the work that they are doing is very high, it never keeps them from making efforts to be supportive of the work that I do. This has been my favorite part of my internship so far.
Recently some of the most exciting news coming out of our office is that Council Member Casar will be running from Congress. Although the work that happens for the campaign is separate from what is done at city hall, it has made the energy around the office very exciting.
The work that I do on a daily basis can vary depending on the projects that I am working on, however there are some tasks that I do complete on a daily basis like constituent communication, or completing public information requests. Both of these tasks can also vary in the amount of time that they take. The workload that I have when doing constituent communication can depend on current events or council meeting items. Public Information Requests are very similar to this as well. There are days where the two can only take an hour whereas others they can take up an entire day. One of my favorite parts about doing constituent work is that oftentimes I am connecting constituents with different community organizations. Some of the organizations that are office works closely with in order to take care of constituent concerns are: ECHO, Integral Care, BASTA, or Texas RioGrande Legal Aid.
Some of my favorite projects I have completed have been the District 4 accomplishments map, and the Progressive Victories Tracker which will launch in a couple of weeks. The map is a google map of District 4 in Austin that shows all of the additions that have been added to benefit the community while Council Member Casar has been in office. This was a fun project to do because I was able to learn a new skill from it (map making) as well as learn a lot more about past community advancements as well as the many additions that can be added to benefit communities.
I have loved my internship thus far and feel very grateful for it. The most surprising aspect has been the amount of time that I have stayed. Initially this position was supposed to only be for Spring 2021, and I felt very lucky to just have the position for the semester, so when I was offered the extension I felt incredibly grateful.
How or did your roles change as District Director?
Jaelyn what a fascinating experience you’re having! I think the projects that you mentioned are really interesting. What was the process on that? Was it overwhelming on deciding what to include/leave out?
Hi Jaelyn, I loved reading about your experience interning at Greg Casar’s office! I am also very excited that he is deciding to run for Congress. I am also happy to hear that the office created an environment where you were appreciated as a staffer, because that to me is a great indication of how beneficial the internship is for you as well as the team culture that your office has cultivated!