To the amazing staff of Congressman Matt Salmon

To the amazing staff of Congressman Matt Salmon,

I want to thank you for investing all of your time and energy into making my experience rewarding. Every one of you contributed something special on multiple occasions and I am thankful for that. I want you to know that I felt welcomed the moment I came walked through the front door for the first time and I believe that is because of the characteristics of which you all possess. Although you exposed me to real life politics in Washington D.C., I am still confident that I want to serve on the city and state level.

To Jonathan and Jenell, I will always remember the fun we had. To Lliam, Greg, Kristine, and Lorissa, thank you for providing countless opportunities to learn and grow. To Olivia, thank you for being so very kind and welcoming to everyone who visits the office. To Adam, thanks for your help with trying to find me work. Although we were not successful, I appreciate your time and help. To Congressman Salmon, thank you for setting the perfect example in your office. You are an incredible person with many admirable qualities.

I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and thank you again for our time together.

Sincerely,

Ryan Lee

Conclusion and Summary of goals

As I concluded my internship and read through my journal entries, I believe my goals were all met by the close of my 12-week internship. For starters, I certainly saw for my own eyes the challenges facing Washington, but I also saw the sincerity of hundreds of men and women who are striving to serve the American people in a large government. I believe that the hearts of these people are in the correct place, yet they struggle to move forward with change because of the many rules and regulations that have been placed on our government.  By trimming back the large amount, and often repetitive, departments, our politicians will have more influence in representing the people.

My second goal was accomplished and I left D.C. knowing that I can succeed in the workforce as an office manager. I learned a great deal of office procedures and whether it be managing inventory and purchasing supplies, to arranging travel needs, I feel ready to go to work. Since returning to Phoenix at the conclusion of my time with Representative Salmon’s staff, I was hired as an administrative assistant at Air Methods which is a private company who specializes in air and land medical transportation.

Finally, I learned very quickly that large government is not for me. The life style is hard and I’m not sure I would want to travel back and forth as often as these Representatives do. Plus, I have interned previously for local government officials and can now say that I witnessed a greater impact of the lives of citizens from local officials. Still, I appreciate the hard work that comes out of Washington D.C.
Working for Congressman Matt Salmon brought wonderful experiences that I would never trade for any other professional experience. I want to thank his entire team who quickly became my friends. I will be sure to recommend an internship in Washington D.C. to my closest friends because of the experiences that I gained.