Chilling at the Capitol.

Provacateur

I can name a million fictional characters who I consider provocateurs, The Doctor being the first on that list. However, someone who I consider a real life provocateur is Jody Cooley. His whole campaign was a about positive change. It was a grassroots campaign in a Republican district so it was full of uncertainties yet that didn’t faze him. He wanted to give people a choice and inspire them to not conform and go after what you want even if all the odds are against you. He had the necessary qualities to get people to think about problems in a different way and to consider solutions outside of their norm. He obviously shows resilience and courage. Even though his ideas were very moderate many people didn’t bother considering him just because he had the “democrat” label, and he lacked the big business funds Republicans automatically get in our community. He knew about these obstacles before he ran, yet they didn’t scare him; instead they motivated him to challenge them and pave a way for future democrats who might be scared of running.

I think I need to learn to focus on the small things.

 I have a very busy life, and often I don’t have time to notice small changes. In 6^th grade I had a teacher who would force us to focus on the small things by offering prizes to kids who pointed out them out. It was one of my favorite classes and all of us enjoyed being perceptive, but I’ve let that slip away. I’ve always lived a life of change and uncertainty because I’m really ambitious so I have to take a lot of risks. However I’ve become so focused on my ambitions and trying to be the best at everything that I’m neglecting small things that I don’t consider important and that’s stopping me from being a Provocateur. I just need to slow down and stop and smell the roses every once in a while. I used to be really good at the games we played in 6^th grade so I know I have the skills of perception I just have to work to use them more. 

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Project Technology

My project focus is why people, especially young people, should be informed about their local government and get involved. Most people focus on the federal government because it’s easy to keep up with it since what they do is broadcasted everywhere. However I want young people to realize that they need to learn about their local government and that in many occasions it has a greater impact to their lives than federal government.  I have already started working on a website, and I want to research apps and see if I might be able to create one. I just recently formulated the app idea so I’m not even sure if it’ll work or what the actual app will be but I’m brainstorming.  

http://www.hallcountynsp.org/ This is a mini project I was given by Katie. Hall County received a grant for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which allows them to buy foreclosed homes and fix them up. I went out and took pictures of the current houses and worked on the website advertising them and giving information about the homes.

http://www.gainesville.org/fm/media/detail/id/254/ Link to latest commissioners meeting

Interview

How does your job differ from the expectations you had of it before you started?

It takes time. I came from the “news” world where everything unfolds very quickly and there’s always a deadline. Public Relations doesn’t necessarily work that way. You have to very carefully craft a statement, get it approved, consider how it might be interpreted, etc.

There’s also a decent amount of marketing that’s required with my job that I wasn’t expecting. Not only do I deal with the press, but I also deal a lot with the public and keeping them informed through promotional materials such as advertisements, brochures and flyers.

What is your favorite thing about your job or a favorite task?

I really like working with reporters. I was a reporter, so I have a soft spot for them in general. I also think I’m a more helpful and efficient PIO because of that background. I feel like I’m able to put that experience to good use by getting reporters accurate information on a deadline.

What has been the most difficult story/task to deal with?

There was a controversial story that was brewing in the fall regarding a landfill in Hall County and its supposed ties to Gov. Deal. The press was very tough on Hall County officials, and it was hard for me to watch them get lambasted in the press---especially since I feel like it’s part of my job to protect them from that kind of thing. Of course, bad press is a part of being a politician, and I know it’s something that I’ll probably have to go through again. Hopefully, I’ve developed some better ways to manage bad press since then.

How do you balance all your duties?

There are always a lot of balls in the air at once, so I try to make sure to write everything down on my calendar that I possibly can. Being organized is incredibly important!

What's the best tip for successfully managing people?

I think it requires two things: delegation and hard work. I always try to involve other people in the projects that I am working on by giving them very specific tasks. It takes some pressure off of me and gives them a purpose. I also think it’s important to work alongside the people that you’re managing. If you’re not working hard, they’ll be less likely to require that of themselves.

What's your policy on handling controversial topics?

I think two minds are always better than one. Before responding to the press about any inquiry that may be controversial, I like to run my response by several of my colleagues so that it can be refined and improved several times over before it hits the press.

How do you deal with stress?

Exercise. J I also have very level-headed bosses, so that takes a lot of stress off of me.

What do you consider essential requirements for your job or a government job.

I think any job in government requires a dedication to service. You have to have a desire to serve citizens if you want to work in government. Of course, public speaking, creative thinking and patience are also good characteristics to have.

Do you feel like your job directly affects decisions made in Hall County? By the commissioners?

No. My job doesn’t—and shouldn’t—affect policy on any level. My job is to support and promote the commissioners’ decisions whether or not I agree with them politically. How I present their decisions, however, could potentially affect whether or not they get elected again, so I guess it has a small effect on decisions made by Hall County voters.

Have you ever disagreed with something you had to defend? (for example let's say you disagreed with the friendship road name change and it's passed so you have to defend it) How did you deal with it?

I think my job is all about seeing the bright side of things. Even when the commissioners disagree on a subject, I can usually understand why each one of them votes the way they do. They all are trying to do what they think is right for their constituents—they just may have different ideas about what the right thing is. As I mentioned before, once the vote is made, I have to be on board with whatever it is. The key is understanding why it passed and what the positive points of it are. After that, I’m responsible for sharing those positive points with the public.

 

 

I have decided to create a website answering the question- Why should we care about local government? Many young people ignore local government and believe it doesn't have as big of a role in their lives as the federal government. That is obviously incorrect. Local Government actually has a more direct effect and should be studied just as much as federal government. I really want to emphasize the citizen to official relationship and how close it can be at the local level, so I decided to interview Ms. Crumley. She gave me exactly what I wanted to know. I was immensly interested in how she is able to handle everything, since politics is a people career. What most impressed me is the loyalty she has to the county. I think that is something that everyone should know. Local officials loyalty is to the people and the county/district, not to lobbyists, entire states, or to political games that will get them reelected. My favorite thing she said is that rather then representing people local officials work alongside the people. I also asked questions about how to keep everything in order because the most important role of government is to serve people. If she led an unorganized stressful life, she would not be able to serve effectively or portray the authority needed to make citizens feel at ease. 

Empathy

I actually took the test twice and took the average of my two scores, in order to get a more accurate score.  I didn’t like some of the questions because I was too centralized and had difficulties deciding between slightly agree and slightly disagree, so the second time I took the test I changed the answers to a few questions I was unsure about to cancel them out. My score was actually higher than I expected, I got a 63. I generally don’t trust online tests much (hence why I took it twice) but I feel like it’s a fairly accurate score. I’ve always been very intuitive about people’s feelings and I usually take others into consideration when deciding something. My main reason for wanting to be a politician is so I can make a positive difference in people’s lives so I guess that makes me an empathetic person. I completely agree with Dan Pink’s theory on teaching empathy; it’s exactly what I was thinking before I watched the video but he found a more proper way to express it. However I also believe we move within that spectrum constantly depending on situations. There are definitely days when I feel more empathetic and days when I just want to focus on me. As cliché as it might be, the most empathetic person I can think of is my priest. He gave up everything in order to serve people. He goes wherever the Archdiocese believes he is most needed, he can’t start a family, he can’t have a second career, if a family needs him at 3am he helps them even if he has a 6am mass, and what’s most astonishing is he enjoys it all. The amount of dedication to God and the vast variety in the community he serves requires him to be able to see everything in a million perspectives and give knowledgeable advice. On the other hand I am surrounded by un-empathetic friends. None of my friends are completely horrible but when grouped together they would probably score a 10. I have one friend who is extremely helpful towards others but she has no emotional intuition; she is a horrible person reader and can’t tell what people are feeling. On the other hand I have another friend who can look at someone and correctly guess how they feel but she just doesn’t care. She’s selfish and focused on reaching her goals and making herself happy so unless helping out benefits her in some way she won’t do it. (Haha yet they are still both my friends, I have a talent for ignoring people’s flaws and finding the good in them XD)

Drive

My Resolution word is Drive. This year is going to be extremely busy and full of new experiences and good-byes. I'm going to need a lot of willpower and persistence to succeed and avoid a breakdown and Drive will remind me to not give up and continue my journey towards greatness. I also like its more literal meaning of driving a car. I'm finally 18, and by the summer of this year I will have the freedom to go places without parent restrictions. My dream has always been to take a road trip the summer before college and I want to make that dream come true. I want to go places, both literally and figuratively, and "Drive" is a word that will take me where I want to go.
I don't really harbor any strong envious feelings towards a person or situation. However, I have daily moments of jealousy where I see something I can't have or someone accomplish something I like and I think "I hate life" but quickly move on. It's a wide range of situations too, from seeing a car I like to hearing about someone get a higher grade than me. The envy is always spurred from someone being more succesful than me, but rather then waste my time complaing I usually use it as motivation to work harder.
All of my friends and family can confirm I am a horrible liar. However when I do lie it's about feelings. I hate showing sadness and vulnerability, and unlike other lies, lying about feelings is easy all you have to do is smile. I am an extremely cheerful person, and usually it's genuine, but when I am feeling sad, angry, or stressed my personal mantra is to smile and nod. I'm sure people can see through it sometimes, but it's still the thing I lie about most.

Project Focus

I need an want to know how and to what extent money affects local state and federal government. I have decided to change my question. After my talk with Mr. Knighton I realized there was more to money in politics than election funding. I still want to keep my focus on how money affects politics however I no longer want to make PACs and Corporations the focus, and I want to explore money in local government more. Quite honestly I have completely confused myself about my question, and the more I think about it the more I'm confused. My focus has always been PACs but in evaluating what I want from politics and the HMP program I came to the conclusion that I will get a lot more out of my mentorship experience if I research local government and the influence of money, which often isn't greatly impacted by PACs, in our community. I want to start my mentorship with Hall Co Gov't before I create a concise question because I know that will clear my mind about how to change my focus from big federal billionaire campaign spending to local smaller scale spending. I just feel like I've discovered a whole new side to government that I never really thought about and I want to explore it at least for a day before I make a decision or else my confusion on what I want will just get worse.
As I stated earlier I really want to do something video related because that has always been one of my strongest project presentations. However I have recently started toying with the idea of a website. If my project goes the way I envision it I will have a lot of information to sort out and the simplest way for me to organize it is through a website. I can still  include videos but a website also lets be expand to other media that I want to incorporate like a discussion room, charts, photo galleries and so forth. I don't know if I'm that talented in website design but it's something I have always wanted to explore and since the point of the project is to learn something new and share you're acquired knowledge with others, creating a website would be a perfect way to achieve that.
I believe I already began my real inquiry. As I was talking to Mr. Knighton and telling him about my goals our conversation answered and brought up many questions. I want to learn how elected officials solve issues? Is there a difference in how federal and local officials compromise? Does money affect what decisions are made? How often? The only way I can get a lot of those questions answered is by asking the people I'm going to be working with and observing. I think observing to the point of being creepy is going to be how I best "inquire" whether I'm sitting in a commissioners meeting or touring the building. The best way I can get my research done is through simply watching. If I sit quietly and let the people around me go about their everyday routine I can learn how they make decisions, what they value, and the importance of different issues, because rather than getting textbook or rehearsed answers I'll see the answers and learn about the human aspect of being a government employee.That one meeting just completely changed a lot of my views, and I know the longer I intern the more my views and questions will change. I'm just really super excited about starting Tuesday and the fact that I have such a great opportunity to be inside government.