Social Sciences
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Social Sciences Major Participates in Michigan Leadership Development Program
August 2006
Julie Matijega spent the spring 2006 semester 2006 in Lansing, MI, where she participated in the Michigan Leadership Development Program. This internship program was launched by Governor Jenifer Granholm “to seek out and nurture the young people who will one day lead our state….” Those selected are able to work in the offices of state government, mainly in Lansing, thereby gaining first hand experience while also earning academic course credit. Julie is the first MTU student to participate, and she described her experience in this way:
For the Spring 2006 semester I worked in Lansing, MI, at the executive office of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, in the Constituent Services division. The primary mission of Constituent Services is to help make government more accessible and reactive in order to better address the needs of Michigan’s citizens. It also acts as a liaison between the people of Michigan and the governor, and the comments and questions taken by the department are reported to the governor daily.
Each co-op student in the department is assigned to an issue specialist who addresses concerns with different areas of government; i.e. education, corrections, civil rights, etc. However, I was assigned to two specialists as I was their only full time co-op student. The first specialist I worked with was the office administrator, who was also the specialist for issues concerning the Department of Human Services.
The second specialist I worked with was the Special Events Coordinator. Under her supervision, I proof-read tributes from legislators which honor citizens for numerous things ranging from birthdays to eagle scout awards, as well as other types of activities. I also wrote response letters to young students who had contacted us, many who had quite diverse and interesting questions.
As an intern I was able to experience some great events. I attended three press conferences, where the media were able to broadcast the announcements as well as direct questions to the governor. Another special event that I had access to was the governor’s State of the State Address, where I helped escort guests; which included congressmen, mayors, and others; to their viewing rooms.
In addition, I attended a constituent hours meeting in Grand Rapids with several of our office’s issue specialists as well as another intern. Constituent hours is a type of meeting where the governor spends approximately ten minutes with constituents who have written to our office requesting to meet with her for various reasons. This was a great opportunity to observe the governor work with people individually.
I also helped out at a two “teas” for about 100 people held at the governor’s residence, which allowed people from important advocacy groups to interact personally with the governor and other key people in their respective fields.
I highly recommend this internship opportunity to anyone interested in learning more about government and increasing their communication skills in a professional environment. For more information on the program, you can visit www.michigan.gov/mldp.
~ Julie Matijega
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