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8:30 AM
, First Day of Internship
“Oh my gosh I think I’m going to throw up,” I told my mom the
morning of my first day working at the Mayor’s Office. “I really think
I might throw up.” Mom sighed, “Don’t worry Tommy,” she said
reassuringly, “everything will be fine.” I, myself, however, knew that
everything would NOT be fine. I was working at the Mayor’s Office! This
job was far more serious and important than any of the others I could have
taken. Everything I would do there had an effect on something, or someone,
in some way. When I finally arrived at
City Hall
, I looked up at its towering silhouette and my knees began to shake. As
mom drove off, I approached the large double doors, lunch bag in hand, and
pulled. I climbed the stairs and wandered the halls until I stumbled upon
the conference room where I was greeted by Bridget O’Loughlin, the
Intern Coordinator. She was quick to dispel my fears of making a mistake
and causing the city to fall apart, which helped calm me down
considerably. However, my fears just as quickly returned after Bridget
told us the Mayor would be coming in to talk to us. After a dramatic few
minutes of silence, Mayor Dolan entered the conference room. He sat in the
large chair at the head of the table as I simply stayed quiet and looked
around nervously. The Mayor introduced himself (as if he needs an
introduction) and then we went around the room giving our names and high
schools. I stammered through my name and some how managed to get out
“Melrose High” before he moved on to the next person. After the
introductions were finished, the Mayor’s voice took a far more serious
tone and he explained to us what we would be doing here. He told us that
everything we did here be it answering phones, filing papers or even
mailing letters, reflected upon
City Hall
and the City of Melrose. “What you do here is very important, and you
should approach every assignment given to you that way,” he said.
Bridget asked if there were any questions, and I tentatively raised my
hand. When called upon I asked “Can you show us how to use the copy
machine?” She laughed and proceeded to lead us to the impressive looking
piece of machinery, where we were given a detailed orientation on the
proper use of the copying arts. We finished the rest of the tour, and
returned to the conference room where the decision was made to go to
Bruegger’s Bagels. Once there, the 10 interns began to talk and we got
to know each other pretty quickly. My initial fear had completely
dissipated and, by the end of the day, I had come to the conclusion that
everything was, in fact, going to be fine.
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