Goals

My name is Brianne Fisher. I am a senior graduating in May with a Public Service and Public Policy Bachelor of Science degree in the College of Public Service and Community Solutions. My education also includes a concentration in Sustainability and a Certificate in Public Administration and Public Management. I started my education in this field not 100% sure of what I wanted to do with it or how much I was going to enjoy it. Throughout my journey I have come to discover my love for learning. I am one of the lucky ones who understands and appreciates my ability to learn (although at times I have to remind myself of that). I hope that my internship takes my learning to a tangible level. Connecting book learning to the real life learning is an exciting (kind of intimidating) aspect of an internship.


My internship will be with Arizona State Parks in the Resources and Public Service Department. The department is primarily responsible for administering grants and engaging partnerships. The beef of my job duties will be communicating and coordinating with several Advisory Committee's who aide the State Parks Board in recommendations about decision making and passing grants.


My true interest in this internship will be to analyze the whole of Arizona State Parks as an agency through a sustainable lens. This sustainable lens is not limited to analyzing only the factors of today such as recycling, energy consumption, waste, etc. but it will be an analysis of sustainable management of tomorrow. These types of aspects include growth trajectory, employee satisfaction, and innovation. Examining Arizona State Parks through a sustainability management framework is my overall objective of this internship however, through this process I hope to take away more specific goals:

1.) Understanding what the differences will be when using the sustainable management framework for a government entity compared to a private entity. For example, creating sustainable "value" for the private sector is different for the public sector.

2.) Understand why and what makes it so challenging for government agencies to be proactive and taking action on tomorrow. Is it laws, regulations, or statues that prohibit this type of thinking or is it top down organization throughout the agency with similar communication patterns? I want to be able to identify what the problem is and how to address it.

3.) My final goal is to enjoy this process. Although frustration, fear, anxiety, angst and who knows what else will occur, I will remind myself I am doing this for ME. I am doing this because this is what I want. I am excited and overwhelmed with my ideas. When I am stuck I promise myself to ask for help.  When I have an idea I promise myself to share it. I will remember that my time at Arizona State Parks can be used to accomplish my goals, benefit the organization, create relationships, and most importantly, begin my endeavors in a career path that I will wake up happy with everyday.