The Week in Review

This week marked the completion of one project and the transition to another. It also marked the end of week four of the internship. I was relieved to have successfully completed our first small group project, but the end of the week brought another challenge from our boss that could not be taken lightly.
The beginning of the week was filled with preparation for final project presentations on Wednesday. I had anticipated Wednesday with excitement, because I was feeling a bit stifled by my group, as we worked on the re-branding of the region and a new economic development plan for it. My group was made up of me and three other interns: one who happens to be a roommate of mine, another who is a native of Danville, and another from China. The chemistry within the group was led by two dominant players and left to lead by one who does not quite understand American culture, and me. I will admit that I probably could have taken more control, but the lead (who will continue revising the project until the end of the summer) had already been chosen. I felt that she needed to make some of the major decisions, but I was still left frustrated almost every day at the lack of patience and understanding that existed within our group. However, it served as a great lesson in group dynamics, one that I hope to learn from as I am now the lead in my current project.
Despite these minor personality differences, our presentation was extremely well-planned and executed. On our presentation day, our boss Karl chided another group for being ambiguous and lengthy in their presentation; and the third group’s presentation could not be finished by that time because it is a grant proposal in progress. By default, our group represented the most polished report of the day, yet not without flaws. The program officers questioned several aspects of our work, but were overall pleased at the research and ideas we laid out in the end.
The next day, my new group began background research on our new project. We will be working on the Foundation’s grant proposal to the Knight Foundation’s Community Information Challenge and simultaneously developing a marketing and communications strategy for the Foundation. Marketing, admittedly, is not my area of expertise; but, I very much want the grant writing experience. I think this will offer a great opportunity to learn about each of these areas while gaining that experience.
When we went to meet with Karl, who will be overseeing our group, about directions for this project, he had a slight diversion for us. He has been selected as one of a few to brief the White House next Wednesday on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s impact on rural America. For Friday and Monday, he wants us to research these implications and brief him before he goes to Washington. While I realize that I probably will not be telling him anything he has not already heard, this is a wonderful opportunity, in my mind, to make a marked difference in public policy. In my mind, it may be the most concrete thing I do all summer. And, as a public policy major, I am actually interpreting and analyzing public policy. That work began on Friday and will continue into Monday (and over the weekend I am sure). It is a lot to digest, but I am eager to actually pull out these implications (I am also afraid to find that the stimulus probably disadvantages rural areas of the country).
So, for now, unfulfilling partnerships among my former group have been overshadowed by the task of analyzing a massive piece of legislation. But, honestly, it is a task more engaging to me than developing a marketing plan. I cannot wait to see what we discover from it.