Week One in “Govnah” Baker’s Office

Hello! My name is Jordan Smith and I’ve never had a blog before. But also I have never lived in Boston before and I’ve never had an internship either so this month is full of new projects and experiences.

I’m working this summer with Governor Charlie Baker as his Drug Control program Intern. I’ll be back and forth between the Department of Public Health and the State House and I’m really excited to get a jump start on that tomorrow. I think that my big goals for the summer would be to establish a solid network of contacts in the office for future recommendations along with learning a lot about the world of public health as well. I’ve been told that the opioid epidemic is a hot topic in Boston so I am looking forward to being behind the scenes with the people who are trying to do something about it. I’ve been researching the different policies that governor Baker has implemented to respond to the epidemic, and I hope that I am knowledgeable enough for the first day to make a good impression.

To track my accomplishments and impact, I am going to keep my spreadsheet of networking contacts up to date with all the new people that I meet along with keeping a record of all the tangible skills and projects that I work on. I think that reflecting on these projects in the future and also as I go will help me to really soak in all that I am learning from this experience and I’m excited to get started!

I’m writing this blog post from a coffee shop in the city called “Peet’s” and reflecting back on my first day in the city. I have already learned to navigate the commuter rail and make my way around a big city by myself in general. Not too bad for a girl from Columbus, Ohio who has never grown up with public transportation.

Looking forward to all that is to come!

Jordan