Describe your interactions within the organization, your duties as an intern, and the knowledge and skills you gained during the last half of your internship.

I found my internship through the Washington Center (TWC), which connects internships and seminars to students from colleges and universities throughout the United States. During my internship, the Washington Center conducted Fall Professional Development Sessions to help provide connections and guidance for those in their programs. There have been three sessions over the fall semester. The first was about Skills for Flourishing in Your Internship; this one contained open dialogue between our advisors and fellow interns about scheduling and organization, professional goal setting, networking, informational interviewing, “professionalism,” and its critiques. TWC’s Lauren Johnson, a marketing, personal branding, and communications expert led the second development session. She opened my eyes to developing my brand in marketing myself for a new position in the workforce by finding my strengths, establishing an objective, aligning my skills with my goals, and being direct with my values. The third development session was with four TWC alums who have completed an internship and gone on to careers. These alumni shared their knowledge and experience with the interns who are currently in the trenches of finishing our time and searching for new positions.

My supervisor, Theresa, organized informational interviews with the Section Chiefs from the Office of Financial Resources (OFR) at SAMHSA so that I could better understand how OFR works within SAMHSA and how they work with the Office of Financial Integration Strategy (OFIS) with which I directly work.

Office of Financial Integration Strategy (OFIS)-Dr. Elizabeth Lopez

Office of Management Analysis and Coordination (OMAC) Holly Rogers

Division of Contracts Management (DCM) Lynn Tantardini

Division of Grants Management (DGM) Thomas Graves

                Discretionary Grants Branch-Roger George

Division of Grand Review (DGR) Chris Craft

Division of Budget (DOB)-Rajesh Ramsay

                Deputy-Noam Shiman

These chiefs shared their time and information about their divisions with Ryan and me, the other intern in OFIS. They answered our questions, including how they got to the positions they are in and why they are part of the integral process of helping improve our nation’s mental health.