Hello All,
  My name is Shawn. I am in the MPA program at ASU and plan on graduating at the end of this summer. I want to be a city manager someday and then eventually work my way up into politics. I guess the best place to start with this blog is my experience at the beginning of the whole internship process. I received an e-mail about the Government and Legislative Internship program available at ASU, thought it sounded interesting and decided to go to the open house for it. I had never been to an open house for an internship before so I had no clue what to wear or what to bring. I figured it would be like a pre-interview and of course I was way off. I showed up in a full suit and twenty copies of my resume. I walked in to the room and in a split second realized I was way off base. A majority of the other people there were in sandals and t-shirts with no resumes. I took a quick loop around the room got the handouts and left.
 After that experience I felt a little deflated but decided to turn in the application anyways and see what would happen. A couple weeks later I got a call from the director of the program that I had made the cut and from that moment on it was pretty much a roller coaster ride. From workshops to prepare us for the interviews to the actual interviews was completely crazy. The process was kind of like a football draft. It entailed first being interviewed by a panel of 15 people representing the Governor's office, the House and Senate, and the Supreme Court of Arizona. That interview went perfect for me, I had practiced what they might ask me and what I would say. A week after that I got the e-mail I made it to the next round. The next step was to be interviewed by members of the Senate. This interview was a little more rough. It involved another set of 15 people asking the same questions but worded just a little different from the first interview. Unfortunately I did not make the cut for the Senate, but from their your resume is sent out to other state government agencies. The next week I had interviews with The League of Arizona Cities and Towns, The Arizona Association of Counties, The Department of Economic Security, and last but definitely not least the Arizona Secretary of State's Office. All those interviews went very well, but I knew in my mind I really wanted the Secretary of State's Office for my internship. This was my last interview of the week and it went perfect. The staff that interviewed me were awesome and it just seemed to click. The next afternoon I got the call they wanted to offer me the position. I was ecstatic and no doubt said yes.  I want to get to my next post, but unfortunately I have to go to bed, the transition from being a bartender all night to getting up at eight and working all day has been a little difficult but I'm starting to get used to it. Until next time- Shawn