Personal Contributions: Building the Navy of the Future

My fourth week at the Office of Senator Tim Kaine has been an exciting one.  The main focus of our Office this week was the planning of our Building the Navy of the Future event that we hosted in Virginia Beach.  The event was about preparing Norfolk for the Department of the Navy’s 355 ship goal within the next 20 years.  It is in the interest of the Commonwealth for Norfolk to gain the Department of the Navy’s shipbuilding contract because it will boost economic development and bolster industry by directing federal funds to the state and constructing an industry which will provide stable employment for many citizens.  

The Senator hosted this panel-based event and subsequently we were expected to make sure that everything ran smoothly.  I contributed in several ways to this project. First, I was tasked with sending out invitations. Often, I was given a name of someone who the Senator wanted to attend the event without any contact information so I had to do some investigating by researching with Google and calling their offices so that I could send out their invitation.  Second, I assisted in creating biographies of the panel members to brief the Senator as well as created plaques with the panelists names. At the event itself, I contributed by realizing that there were not any trash cans. I mentioned this to the event supervisor and our guests were supplied trash cans to throw away their water cups. Our regional office took the lead on planning this event, consequently, I became the intern who had the most responsibility.  I think this put me in an advantageous position to gain employment after graduation, through my assistance in planning and being knowledgeable of the event, I presented myself in a good light to the other regional directors who were in attendance. Fortunately, through my contributions and those of my coworkers we were able to have a successful event.