June 11, 2015

Thursday June 4^th I attended a fundraiser for De Paul Treatment Center with Commissioner Nick Fish and Aja. Here I learned how De Paul provides drug and alcohol treatment to not only men and women, but also to youth and families. With the help of many donors, De Paul hopes to help individuals recover by providing medial detox, day treatments, family therapy, and much more. I think it is really interesting that Nick Fish supports multiple local nonprofits, including De Paul. During the fundraising many people interacted with one another, and told their stories. It is a blessing for someone to open up and talk about a deep topic in their past and or current lives.

I am currently working on two projects: one about the Interstate Renovation Project with Liam Frost and the Portland Utility Board members recruitment with Jim Blackwood.

For my Interstate project, I will be collecting data for the maintenance of Portland's 225-square-mile water supply system. The Portland Water Bureau's Interstate Maintenance Facility is located near the Rose Quarter on N. Interstate Avenue. Collecting online materials was harder than I thought, you really have to play around with the search engine.

Jim gave me a project to work on using Excel, which I had never used before. This expanded my computer skills. Here I worked on organizing a spread sheet of potential Portland Utility Board (PUB) members. Commissioner Nick Fish is asking for a new nine person PUB to replace three existing oversight groups.   

Every day here in Commissioner Nick Fish’s office, there is always something new to learn. There are currently 9 people to learn from: each staff member, Nick, and myself. The goal at the end of the day here is that everyone wants to see you succeed. I feel extremely grateful to working alongside with such talented colleagues.

In addition to working on projects, I am also learning from Asena Lawrence on how to answer phones calls, prep the Council binder for Nick, and good communication skills such as greetings. Jenny is also a great helper, she helps me edit my blog postings. Aja is always here to make me feel comfortable. Liam is smart, I really admire how he points out how I can improve. All mistakes are learning experiences. I think Jim is very interesting and benevolent. Sonia is very kind and lovely, I love how bold she is. I really enjoy working with everyone here at the office. By the time you know it, work is over. This office has fun and gets the job done!