Hey y’all!
Wow, how time goes by fast! I’m so relieved that I’ve made it through this summer with a breeze. When I first started I felt welcome instead of showing up to a new job, or starting over in general. Back in 2016 I interned for the City of Plainview and this summer is the second internship for city hall. Because of the experience I have gained in the past, I already felt that welcomed back you’re going to be here for a while once again! (In the most positive way possible of course.) This summer I have gone more in depth with my projects here in the department so my work was a little more complex. I had the opportunity to work on many projects, rather than just one. When I started, I was working on violation letter templates. Then as time progressed I contacted different insurance agencies to update our roofing contractor files for their certificate of liability so that they are able to conduct business within the city of Plainview.
Unfortunately my time to go is now, but it has been a great time this summer with these amazing people. I loved the real life experience that I have gained throughout the internship such as customer service skills, communication skills, people skills, self discipline, organizational skills, etc. One day when we had a difficult customer come into the lobby, I had to take control of the situation with a calm and patient manner in order for the customer to leave with a great experience. This allows us to get the proper paperwork done in an efficient amount of time, and leaves the customer satisfied with our service. This situation and many other situations like these I have improved on my communication skills, customer service skills, and people skills. The thing I like about the experience gained through the internship is that the experience doesn’t just have to be applied to an office job, it could be applied through so many areas of the business industry such as human resources, management, marketing, etc. The community service I have done this summer had a huge impact on me as well. Knowing that I have changed the lives of the unfortunate who have trouble finding their next meal, helping promote businesses’ different departments, to mentoring young entrepreneurs about the business industry what it has to offer how hard you have to work to achieve various goals was probably some of the highlights of the internship. I’m very thankful for my supervisor giving me this second opportunity to grow as a person and gain this experience. My supervisor, Cris Valverde has been such a great help throughout my internship as well as the secretaries there. I will never forget the amount of times I have asked for help and they provided me with it no questions asked. I hope to see the whole team again once more next year and see what my next internship holds for me in the future.
From the mind of an intern,
Tony Lee Hernandez
