PSC Award Entries

This week at PSC there were a lot of different things going on and almost not enough time to do them all. On Monday, I was told to develop two separate title pages for award entries for the Sister City International Awards. One was for Youth & Development and the other was for the overall sister cities program. I was a little uncertain of what these cover pages were supposed to look like because all I was told to do was to incorporate numerous pictures, a title and the PSC logo on each cover sheet. So, I did as I was told and had them ready within the hour after the task was presented to me and my supervisors really liked them. Upon presenting the title pages to them, they explained to me that the entries were due by 5 pm EST, which put the deadline at 2 pm PST (I still think it is really weird that Arizona doesn't do daylight savings). Right when they said that I looked over at the clock and noticed that it was approximately 1:47 pm. Additionally, I noticed that they were still not finished editing both award entries, which were strictly emphasized to remain at 5 pages. As a matter of fact, both entries stood at around 8 pages. The next 13 minutes were ridiculously frantic as there was a distinct sense of uncertainty hovering over the room. At 1:57 pm my supervisors had somehow managed to to reach the designated goal and began the process of emailing both submissions. When it was all said and done, a sense of relief began to fill the office and the color began to fill back up in everybody's face. I'm still not even sure why they waited until the last minute to approach me with this task, let alone complete the award entries, but nevertheless the entries were completed and sent off. The Sister City International Awards must be a really big deal.

By the way, the time stamp on the outgoing email showed 1:59 pm EST.

Brothers

My brother came to visit me last weekend and it was the first time I had seen him in over a year. As a matter of fact, he is the first person to visit me since I moved to Phoenix, so needless to say, it meant a lot to me. It was really nice to be able to spend some quality time with him. He is a little over three years younger than me, which puts him in his junior year of college at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. We are a lot alike in numerous aspects that include how we are hard workers in whatever we are challenged with, we both love sports and we both love Tim Tebow. I think our liking of Tebow stems from the fact that we both share his faith and his passion for the game of football. For the few days that he was here we played golf, hung out poolside and watched some movies as we caught up on all of the new things in each other’s lives and reminisced on our childhood. Needless to say, it was a great couple of days.

Intern Errands

Last week I opted to work instead of taking any time off for spring break. I initially thought that there would not be much for me to do but I ended up staying very busy. Throughout the week I ran many errands to “The Cage” across the street. “The Cage” is actually a storage facility for many of the departments of the City of Phoenix that is located directly across the street from City Hall. I find myself venturing across the street numerous times throughout the week to pick up different items that are requested by the committees. For example, last week I had to go pick up 42 easels and prepare the Taiwanese flag for an exhibit that is being put on by the Taipei committee.

In addition to all of the errands, I worked diligently on the newsletter. In fact, I came pretty close to completely finishing the first draft. All that was left to add were a few bios of new commission members. Considering the fact that Friday, March 30 is the deadline for me to submit the final draft to the print shop, I think I have managed my time very well on this project and I cannot wait to see the finished product.

Newsletter and State of the City Address

As I have previously mentioned, one of my long term, and in a sense most important duties has been to develop the newsletter for Phoenix Sister Cities. I have been working hard to polish up the quarterly newsletter and hope to have it completed in the next couple of weeks. I have included in it numerous events that have taken place throughout the course of FY 2011-2012 and I am very excited to get it printed and sent out to the over 400 members of Phoenix Sister Cities. Some of these events include the Hermosillo Band and Bugle Corps performing in the St. Patrick's Day Parade a couple of days ago, the Matsuri Festival, several different fundraisers for city committees, and the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program, to name a few. Currently, the newsletter stands at around 15 pages and each page contains brief articles and pictures that I had to track down from various committee members and volunteers in order to incorporate them into the newsletter. Needless to say, a few of the items in the newsletter have been easier to develop than others. This is due to the fact that some of the individuals that I have tried to contact regarding content information have been slow to respond or have not replied to my requests. Regardless of some of these difficulties, the newsletter is coming along just fine and I hope it will turn out great!

While I was working on the newsletter the other day I received an email from a representative in the mayor's office. The email was an invite to attend the State of the City Address on April 11th. It technically wasn't an invite due to the fact that this yearly address is an event where the public is encourage to attend, but nonetheless, it was invitation to reserve a seat at the address. Additionally, I was informed that I will have the opportunity to ask the mayor a few questions after his speech. Apparently, my supervisor was nice enough to set up a "shadowing opportunity" for me after I told him that I am interested in pursuing a career in local government. I am really excited about this opportunity and I definitely can't wait to share the experience with you all.

Peyton Manning

I’m not sure how many of you are into football, let alone sports in general, but I think this has been an historic week for the sport of football. On Wednesday the Indianapolis Colts released 4-time MVP Peyton Manning on the eve of when Peyton was due a $28 million bonus. I didn’t get to watch the press conference on TV but I did listen to it live on the radio and I would be lying if I told you that I did not tear up listening to his farewell to the Colts organization and Colts fans everywhere. It almost goes without saying that it was a really emotional press conference that followed his 14 year stint in Indy.  Regardless of how I feel about Indy letting him go, I’m really looking forward to this next week when a lot of teams are set to make their case to acquire Manning. There’s been a ton of speculation about where he might end up but if I had to pick three places I would like to see him end up, I would say Denver, Arizona, or Miami. Here’s why.

Denver: Having just moved here from Colorado where I did my undergrad, I would be lying if didn’t admit that I have developed a soft spot for the Denver Broncos in my time up there. I really like to see them win because when they win all my good friends are happy, and when they lose all my friends hate everything in life. In my opinion, with Denver’s defense already dominant, Peyton would turn Denver into an AFC powerhouse. Even though I am a HUGE fan of Tim Tebow and I appreciated everything he did this year, I think he belongs in Jacksonville.

Arizona: Three words- We Live Here! Bring him here to Larry Fitzgerald and Early Doucet.

Miami: The only reason I have Miami on here is because my good buddy is a really big fan of the Dolphins. He is really, really mean when the Dolphins lose, which, in recent years has pretty much been all the time, so I know it would put him in a good mood for life if Peyton were to take his talents to South Beach.

Hermosillo Committee Meeting

As a part of my internship, it is required that I pick a city committee and attend their monthly committee meetings. I recently attended the Hermosillo committee meeting and I met a lot of great people. Even though I did not take down the official minutes I did take minutes down for myself in order to get some practice and report back to my supervisors and colleagues at the staff meeting. The Hermosillo committee is definitely one of the busiest committees and it was interesting to hear about all of their upcoming events and activities. The most interesting item on the agenda was the status report about the establishment of the Hermosillo Burn Center in response to the terrible tragedy that occurred in a Hermosillo daycare center in 2009. Tragically, 49 young children perished in a fire and those that survived will need care and surgeries for years. Since there are no burn centers in northern Mexico, Phoenix Sister Cities is currently working to help establish a Burn Center. As of now, there are approximately 12 sets of nurses that are being trained at the Maricopa County Burn Center and will eventually make their way down to Hermosillo. Needless to say, it was very good to hear that significant progress is being made in the establishment of the Burn Center and I cannot wait until the project is completed.


You can read more about the Hermosillo Fire Relief Fund and how to donate at
http://phoenixsistercities.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=199