{"id":33878,"date":"2022-05-05T10:28:03","date_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?p=33878"},"modified":"2022-05-05T10:28:11","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T14:28:11","slug":"what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"What a career in public service means to me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/our-solutions\/recognition\/public-service-recognition-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Service Recognition Week<\/a> is a good opportunity to reflect on what drives me to seek a career in public service. I grew up in a family with individuals who dedicated their careers to the fields of law and medicine and who instilled in me the value of service. I am drawn to work in a career that would enable me to better the lives of people in my community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Serving in Congress<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To explore the world of public service, I became an intern for my congressional representative in his district office. This was a prime opportunity for me to learn how to serve my country in the legislative branch, and perhaps more importantly, to support my local community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I learned firsthand that a congressional district office is not only the place where constituents go to express their views or ask for help, but also a liaison between the legislative and executive branches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>District office staff assist constituents in getting their social security checks, handle veterans\u2019 casework and help small businesses secure loans from the government. Office staff also ensure the representative is aware of prominent local issues. Staffers share issues that are important to constituents and encourage a legislative response when necessary. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I continue to value this experience\u2014from speaking with constituents and hearing their gratitude for work done on their behalf to observing the staff\u2019s tireless commitment to addressing constituent casework. I am deeply grateful that this office provided me with a strong foundation to continue working toward a future in public service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Serving in a nonprofit organization<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After working in the district office, I began working in nonprofit organizations that <a>provide vital assistance to<\/a> local communities. As a result, I am now a graduate student working toward a master\u2019s degree in public policy in <a>our<\/a> nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am excited to broaden my knowledge of public service and find the most effective ways to serve my local community. I hope to return to my hometown and work at a nonprofit organization or government office to give back to my community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One civil servant who solidified my passion for public service\u2014and someone I consider an example of what a public servant should be\u2014is current U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaid.gov\/who-we-are\/organization\/samantha-power\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Samantha Power<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout her career in public service, Power has led and approached difficult situations on the world stage with empathy, grace and compassion. She has never been afraid to express her thoughts on a controversial issue, even if that means someone with more authority disagrees with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can only hope to one day be a leader like her and follow her example by approaching my work with these core values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit GoGovernment.org to discover your call to serve and learn how to start your public service career in the <a href=\"https:\/\/gogovernment.org\/all-about-government-jobs\/work-for-government\/\">federal government<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/gogovernment.org\/all-about-government-jobs\/working-in-the-legislative-branch\/\">legislative branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public Service Recognition Week is a good opportunity to reflect on what drives me to seek a career in public service. I grew up in a family with individuals who dedicated their careers to the fields of law and medicine and who instilled in me the value of service. I am drawn to work in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":33886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sort-date":"","content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7586],"tags":[11763,9832,9170],"class_list":["post-33878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","tag-gogovernment","tag-internship","tag-public-service-recognition-week"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What a career in public service means to me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This Public Service Recognition Week, an intern on the Partnership&#8217;s Government Affairs team reflects on what drives her to consider a career in public service, taking a look back at her past roles in nonprofit organizations and a congressional district office.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What a career in public service means to me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An intern reflects on how her past work experience in Congress and nonprofit organizations drove her to consider a career in public service.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Partnership for Public Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-05T14:28:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-05T14:28:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpruce\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RPublicService\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RPublicService\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mpruce\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01\"},\"headline\":\"What a career in public service means to me\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-05T14:28:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-05T14:28:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\"},\"wordCount\":485,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"GoGovernment\",\"internship\",\"Public Service Recognition Week\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Congress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\",\"name\":\"What a career in public service means to me\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-05T14:28:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-05T14:28:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"An intern reflects on how her past work experience in Congress and nonprofit organizations drove her to consider a career in public service.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":375,\"caption\":\"interns in public service career\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What a career in public service means to me\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/\",\"name\":\"Partnership for Public Service\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Partnership for Public Service\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":58,\"caption\":\"Partnership for Public Service\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/RPublicService\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rpublicservice\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/partnership-for-public-service\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01\",\"name\":\"mpruce\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mpruce\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/author\/mpruce\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What a career in public service means to me","description":"This Public Service Recognition Week, an intern on the Partnership&#8217;s Government Affairs team reflects on what drives her to consider a career in public service, taking a look back at her past roles in nonprofit organizations and a congressional district office.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What a career in public service means to me","og_description":"An intern reflects on how her past work experience in Congress and nonprofit organizations drove her to consider a career in public service.","og_url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/","og_site_name":"Partnership for Public Service","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/","article_published_time":"2022-05-05T14:28:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-05T14:28:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":375,"url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mpruce","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@RPublicService","twitter_site":"@RPublicService","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/"},"author":{"name":"mpruce","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01"},"headline":"What a career in public service means to me","datePublished":"2022-05-05T14:28:03+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-05T14:28:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/"},"wordCount":485,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg","keywords":["GoGovernment","internship","Public Service Recognition Week"],"articleSection":["Congress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/","name":"What a career in public service means to me","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg","datePublished":"2022-05-05T14:28:03+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-05T14:28:11+00:00","description":"An intern reflects on how her past work experience in Congress and nonprofit organizations drove her to consider a career in public service.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_2007206945-e1651760809233.jpg","width":1000,"height":375,"caption":"interns in public service career"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/what-a-career-in-public-service-means-to-me\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What a career in public service means to me"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/","name":"Partnership for Public Service","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#organization","name":"Partnership for Public Service","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/PPS-logo-with-tag.png","width":300,"height":58,"caption":"Partnership for Public Service"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partnershipforpublicservice\/","https:\/\/x.com\/RPublicService","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rpublicservice\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/partnership-for-public-service"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b90e0b62e3b78ebf9a65a1551be04c01","name":"mpruce","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2c1e7b558246b6834edcde27aabd7bc3d29de063484cbb5d11a5bd90a1aeb006?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mpruce"},"url":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/author\/mpruce\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}