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Milton and Mane
Welcome to Milton and Mane, the City of Milton, Georgia's official podcast—a dynamic space where community connection meets insightful conversation. Whether you're a resident, local business owner, neighboring government official, or a curious listener from afar, this podcast is your gateway to understanding Milton on every level.
Each episode is designed to bring you closer to the heart of our city, offering behind-the-scenes stories that humanize the people who keep Milton running. You'll gain valuable insights into local government operations, discover new opportunities, and hear from the voices that shape our community. Expect to learn about our rich history, stay updated on future developments, and explore the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability initiatives that make Milton unique.
Join us as we celebrate our community, encourage civic engagement, and share inspiring stories that resonate beyond our city limits. Subscribe today and be part of the conversation that's building a better Milton, one episode at a time.
Stock Music provided by ikoliks, from Pond5
Milton and Mane
Lecture Hall to City Hall: Meet Milton's Summer Interns
What brings bright, ambitious college students to spend their summer working in local government? In this eye-opening first installment of our "Intern Series," we sit down with Maddie and Luke, two standout college students from the University of Georgia spending their summer working with the City of Milton. They share what inspired them to pursue public service, from a passion for civic storytelling to a drive to strengthen communities through thoughtful research. Their enthusiasm, paired with a deep sense of purpose, sets the tone for a season of growth, connection, and meaningful work.
This episode also highlights what makes Milton’s internship program unique: hands-on experience in every city department, involvement in real projects, and a front-row seat to how local government serves its people. From planning major events to working with residents, Maddie and Luke are getting a crash course in public service. We’ll catch up with them later this summer to hear how it all turned out. Until then, listen in to get to know the faces behind the future of local leadership.
With the community in mind, this podcast explores the stories, people, and initiatives that make our community unique. Each episode offers insights into local government, highlights Milton's history and future developments, and showcases the vibrant arts, culture, and sustainability efforts shaping our city. Join the conversation, celebrate our community, and discover how we're building a better Milton together.
Do you have an idea for an episode or would like to request a specific topic to be covered? Email Christy Weeks, christy.weeks@miltonga.gov
Learn more about the City of Milton at www.miltonga.gov.
Welcome to Milton and Maine, the official podcast for the city of Milton. We want to bring you closer to the heart of our community through stories that inform, inspire and connect. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the people, projects and priorities shaping Milton, covering everything from local government and future development to arts, culture, sustainability and public safety. Whether you're a resident, a local business owner or just curious about our city, this is your front row seat to what makes Milton special. Welcome back everyone.
Speaker 1:My name is Christy Weeks, I'm the communications manager for the city of Milton, and today's episode kicks off something we've never done before. It's the Intern Series. We've welcomed a couple of collegiate summer interns to the city of Milton and before they dive into the day-to-day of local government life, we'd like to sit down and get to know them. So today you're going to hear what brought them to the city, what they think they're getting into and maybe even what they're secretly hoping they don't have to do. Spoiler, we're not above giving them spreadsheets, but there's also a lot more to this experience than paperwork, so think of this as a time capsule. We'll be checking back in with them at the end of their internship to see what lived up to the hype, what surprised them and whether local government might actually be their thing. But for now, let's meet the team, and we're going to start off with the one who's organizing all the shenanigans, and that is the key shenanigan leader, emily Salerno.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, that's me your shenanigan queen, if you will.
Speaker 1:You are the director, the shenanigan director, that's me.
Speaker 3:Who else do we have with?
Speaker 1:us.
Speaker 3:Hi, my name's Maddie. I am going into my junior year here at the University of Georgia. I am studying political science and public relations, and I am joining the city of Milton this summer as a comprehensive summer intern.
Speaker 1:Wow, welcome and.
Speaker 4:Hi y'all. My name is Luke and I'm a rising sophomore at the University of Georgia. Like Maddie, I'm also studying political science, but I'm also studying international relations. I actually interned with the city before as a public works intern in high school.
Speaker 1:Oh, that was last year, right.
Speaker 4:Yes, I interned last January through last May, so about five months.
Speaker 1:Wow, well, welcome back.
Speaker 4:Thank you, glad to be back.
Speaker 1:Something good had to happen. It brought him back right.
Speaker 4:It's a fun place.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right. So what we're going to start with is I want to know how you ended up with this particular idea that this was the space you wanted to spend your time and go a little bit more into your majors. I know you both gave us a rough overlook, but let's start with Emily. I know you're not in college anymore. It's been a long time, it's been a hot minute, but tell us about this intern project.
Speaker 2:This internship we've had for a few years now. I always say it's much more than a coffee internship. We have so many departments within the city that do so many different things and until you're able to really work with them all and do a deep dive, you have kind of a very broad understanding. So our goal is to have our interns be able to touch every department within the city, whether that's just doing a ride along day with police or a major project with our city manager's office. They work here for about 10 weeks, roughly 200 hours, and they've really done a lot of meaningful projects that we've been able to implement even after they've left.
Speaker 1:Very cool, very cool. And how many years have you kind of taken the lead on this?
Speaker 2:So this is my third set of interns, so I've been around the block a few times. Um and the pro. The program just continues to grow every single year. The talent that we have to choose from is the hardest decision I think I make all year.
Speaker 1:So that makes me wonder how many applications did you get this year?
Speaker 2:So we received 25 applications, yikes, we narrowed it down to a few interviews and we picked our top two.
Speaker 1:Wow, doesn't that make you all feel special? Absolutely. It should it should? I mean, that's a whole lot more than I thought. I mean, I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 3:So the interview process for me was very interesting. I've grown up in Milton my entire life and it was always something I heard about. I heard about it from my friends that were grades older than me and ahead of me I had people that were always very interested in it, so it was something that I wanted to do, and then I knew this summer I was going to be home. I wanted to be home for my little brother's graduation and I have always loved public government and working with the public graduation, and I have always loved public government and working with the public and between public relations and political science. It's a great combo of the two well, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that leads me to the question is what in your mind, what's your ultimate pick, where? Where do you see yourself wanting to end up?
Speaker 3:because those are two very specific programs yeah, so over the years this has definitely changed. I started off wanting to go to law school. Then got to college and realized you need to read like 200 plus pages a day and my brain's just not meant for that.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, easy for law students, not easy for me.
Speaker 3:So I came into the idea of wanting to tell a story, and that's always been something that I've enjoyed in life.
Speaker 3:So wanting to tell a story, be it for local government, and help tell the story to the public, tell the story of what we're doing, tell the story of how we get here and tell the story of what the work goes into it, and even be the person that tells the story of things around the community Telling the story of, be it in working in politics and in government, telling the story of office makers and of people in office or legislators, and telling the story Even today. It was really exciting. I got to talk to a whole bunch of local businesses regarding our 4th of July festivities with Red, white and New, and it was super fun because I got to hear them and they're like we love City of Milton, we'd love to work with y'all, like being included in this community is awesome, and they all had such a positive response. So getting to be part that connects the city to truly its people is an amazing thing and that's something I thought I am not going to lie.
Speaker 1:I'm a little frightened right now. I'm hoping I retire before a girlfriend gets really gone, because I think she's coming after my job. I think she's coming after both of our jobs at this point, the energy coming off there is like you and I combined and we're pretty high energy. I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's what I'm thinking. Combine us into one, that's all over, all over.
Speaker 1:I think I'm retiring sooner than I thought. Maddie, that's actually really good information and, coming from somebody who is rolling into their junior year of college, it's pretty impressive that you have that much of a grip on where you want to go and the why, because I think that a lot of times that's what happens is people lose the why and they're just going with what they know right yeah, so I think people always think they're you're meant to know what you want to do at 18.
Speaker 3:You are're meant to know what you want to do at 18.
Speaker 1:You are not meant to know what you want to do in life. It's not true information.
Speaker 3:Like so many people, that was always pushed on me, like you got to have a plan and it's got to be a 10 year plan and you got to get to here by two years and here by five years. If you're not there, you're behind. I threw all that out the window my freshman year of college and said, listen, law school and everything I thought my life was going to be is not what's happening. It's fine. Let's find something I'm actually passionate about, actually excited about something that makes me want to get up in the morning, like I get up at 6.45 am and I love it and I get up for this job and I'm pipping out the door like ready to rock the world, and I think that's something so exciting and something that I hope people younger than me and people coming into this internship Because for me, this is my first time really in an office space, rather than like I've worked jobs before, but it's been like Starbucks- yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:Oh, we're getting the little KZs next on the list here.
Speaker 3:So it's definitely been like my first time experiencing that, and I think going into a job that you're truly excited about makes it all worth it, like it's so much worth it. Even no matter what, at the end of the day, doing something you're proud of is the most important thing to me For sure, for sure.
Speaker 1:I think Emily's got to chime in here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like that's. One of the reasons that we created this internship is that we get so many of these political science majors coming in and it's such a broad way and there's so many things you could possibly do with that I'm a minor.
Speaker 2:I'm a poli sci minor exactly and there's so many different ways and things, and one of the questions I ask every interview is which department are you looking forward to working with most? And the answer is always all of them. The answer is always I. Just I just want to learn more and be able to do and see what all goes into local government.
Speaker 1:And this is where that old saying you don't know what you don't know until you get there Absolutely. And that's a pretty good setup for the interns as they're rolling in, they don't know where their passions are quite yet, unless, of course, you're Maddie and girlfriend got a freeway built already.
Speaker 2:Oh for sure. And then by the end of the internship they all know, okay, I could totally do these two departments. I would never want to do this one. Correct and it's able to kind of hone in on what you want to do. And if local government isn't your jam, you spent 10 weeks to learn how to do it and realized it wasn't it. So you spent 10 weeks and got all of this really great experience and knowledge and working and meeting with people.
Speaker 1:We're going to get to some expectations here in just a minute. I want to. I want Luke to chime in here. How was that whole interview process and what made you decide to come back after last year? Obviously something struck a chord with you, thank goodness, but kind of fill us in.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So what happened was my senior year. I interviewed for a public works internship as a high schooler and I didn't understand what public works was. I sat down for the interview. I still don't know. I'm still a little iffy. When I sat down for this interview and I was there, I had my internship advisor from the school with me and then a solid 75% of the public works department was there. So you imagine I'm sitting at this conference room and there are eight people interviewing me all at once, and every single one of them is smarter than the last PhDs and you know specialists in engineering.
Speaker 4:They're literally loaded down there, for sure, actually yeah, and they're talking about all these things, and throughout the interview, I'm thinking I am not cut out for this. I don't know a thing about engineering. I still don't. Math is not my subject, and so I was kind of worried going in and over the course of the internship internship I realized that the core of government is not necessarily how you reach the goal. You know, it's not whether or not you're an engineer or the events planner or the accountant. It's about what the end goal is, which is serving civilians, serving citizens, making the community stronger and better, and throughout all, all of that, I Lord, I just got the chills.
Speaker 1:We are just like five minutes into this thing. Keep going, sorry, go.
Speaker 4:Well, throughout all of this, I was realizing I may not be an environmental expert, I may not be an engineer, but the core of the argument is what can I do for my community? And through that internship it was working with economic development, working on compiling public comment, and as soon as I left I just missed it so much. I actually, last year, just out of high school, I was like you know what I'm going to apply for the summer internship? Haven't even been to college yet, but I just want to come back already. I do think taking a year off was a good break to learn more about what it is.
Speaker 4:I'm interested in at school studying, going to all of my courses, but I'm just incredibly glad to be back.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I got a question. So if math isn't your thing, what is?
Speaker 4:So, unlike Maddie, I am very much the read 200 papers thing. I'm still dead set on law school and this past two semesters at school I've been assigned so much reading research papers and history books and laws and treatises and all of these things and I just love all of it. I love being able to read everything, being able to look at data that's not necessarily numbers and just go through and kind of understand what are these?
Speaker 1:people thinking you have an analytical mind.
Speaker 4:Exactly 100%.
Speaker 1:Oh good, I think we've got some projects for you, oh we have plenty, we have.
Speaker 4:I think I'm feeling nervous now.
Speaker 1:Oh, don't be nervous-ish. Anyway, you know what I'm going to say right off the top. I am listeners. I'm sorry I'm going to say this again. I am new to Milton, been around since July, but y'all really have such a solid perspective, like it's such a breath of fresh air when I came in and I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I'm still waiting to figure that out. We're not going to talk about my age, but I'm a lot older than y'all. Like I think my kids are way older than y'all. But the point of it is is that there's something about local government that both of you have pinpointed and it's all about giving back, and the focus and the mission and the values all are reflected in what you can do for your city, because those are the people you're serving. So there's a lot of value to that and I give you both a lot of credit for picking that up right off the bat 100%.
Speaker 3:It's always been something for me, one of the organizations I'm involved with at UGA. A core tenement of it is this humble service and this idea of humble service. And it's not just being service oriented in general, it's meaning you are not there for any like. It benefits you because you're getting the joy of serving others and that's something that I find so much joy in. But the idea of I'm not doing it for me, I'm not doing it for something that's going to benefit me, I want to benefit others and thus that'll bring everyone in the community.
Speaker 1:Do you know what's going to shock you, how much benefit you're going to get out of it and and the amount of satisfaction and the it? You think you love it. Now Wait, I'm just going to tell you to wait because in the short amount of time I have been here, I have had some serious moments where I'm like I am truly in the right place because this makes my heart happy. I may not bound out of bed at 6am or 645 like you, I might kind of trickle out of bed a little slower, but I am equally as excited to walk through those doors, probably with a lot less energy. And that's just age-related, that is not.
Speaker 2:For sure, and I feel like there's a special thing about local government where if you're working for the state government or the federal government, you might not directly see the impact that you're having or the things when you guys put on the Red White and you event. It is every year, so that's one of our traditions is that the interns help plan and kind of tie a bow on our Red White and you event, and every year the interns say the same thing. They say I had no idea how much fun that would be and how it would be to feel and know that I planned this and I've created this experience for citizens to have and to watch them and to watch these families and these kids.
Speaker 1:The kids.
Speaker 2:And it's the best, and so it's just local government. I think is this like very special sector where you're able to directly see the impact that you're having.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree. So, with that, I'm going to ask you both, and we'll start with Luke Luke, what and you're kind of at an odd advantage in the sense that you were here last summer but, coming in as a collegiate summer intern what did you think you were going to be doing? Or what do you think? I mean, you've had a couple of meetings so you've gotten a little peek into some things. But your initial honest answer what did you think you were going to be doing?
Speaker 4:I think, I thought, and I still think, that I am going to get some very meaningful projects. Obviously, I'm not going to be running the city in one week Rome wasn't built in a day but I do think that you know, as Emily said, this is not a running coffee internship. Thank goodness there's coffee machines on both floors. That way I don't have to be running a whole lot.
Speaker 1:We can't have any shortage of coffee, never.
Speaker 4:Never, maddie knows, I've been coming into work with a whole Yeti of coffee every morning and then refilling it when I go home for lunch. It's great.
Speaker 1:Y'all are killing my this or that questions. I need to for lunch. It's great. Y'all are killing my this or that questions. I this is. I need to stop asking. We should probably just do the this or that just because y'all are already answering some of them. I can come up with more if you need me to. We're going to let Luke finish his his thought process and then we're switching.
Speaker 4:Well, I do think there are a lot of meaningful projects that can come out of this. This is not copying papers.
Speaker 1:This is not, you know, stapling book there wasn't a little piece of you that thought I'm gonna be like pulling stacks of copies and stapling and stuffing folders, or is that very 1990s? I?
Speaker 4:think there was a little bit certainly there went my age we can't tell you look, don't look a day over 20.
Speaker 1:I'm pretty sure you're my favorite. Thank you, I'm. I'm done. Check all done.
Speaker 4:We're out but when I interned here in high school I certainly thought no way they're going to trust a high schooler with any amount of responsibility, but still I was being given projects where I felt like I could contribute something meaningful to the city and indeed I was able to see it show up on the website and the newsletter. I helped write, you know, write-ups for city communications and social media. I helped make website pages to discuss the different committees and projects the city was doing, and that was something visible and tangible that I could look at and say I made a difference. And I didn't expect anything less when I came here and already I've been here three days and my expectations are blown away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we didn't hold back. And again I better step up my game because I feel like my job is. I'm going to be replaced by the younger generation sooner than I thought.
Speaker 2:Okay, you might, because, like Luke said, they have been here for three days now. I have downloaded four projects on them and I'm at the point now where I told them today they were. We had a meeting, I think an hour later. I started getting documents to review about what we talked about an hour later and I said hold on a minute. Am I allowed to say crap? You could say crap.
Speaker 1:I'll just say crap.
Speaker 2:Crap. I'm going to have to come up with so many more projects. This new generation is built different. I will say that they are built different.
Speaker 1:I love it.
Speaker 2:I'm here for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's fun to watch. So they are involved for your job. I have no doubt. I have no doubt I'm going to start like protecting my projects a little bit and getting territorial. You might need to. I might need to ding it or go back to school. Nope, did that like three years ago, so can't do that again. I love it. Y'all have such a an open perspective and a and a go getter attitude that I think any city would be happy to have you, but I'm grateful that you're here, maddie, what did you think, since this is your first year with Milton?
Speaker 3:So coming in, I definitely I will say I had a little bit like. I was kind of like is it going to be a coffee internship? Is it going to be a coffee run internship? And to quote my mother on the phone yesterday, when I go, oh well, I've been emailing people and calling people and like doing stuff and running into businesses and talking to them and talking about relations between the city of Milton and local residents and businesses and she's like so it's like a real job. To quote, that's exactly what she said to me. I'm like what did you think it was mom? And she's like I don't know. She's like you're doing a lot and I'm like yeah, oh yeah, and you're what day three.
Speaker 3:It's been awesome, yeah um, but I will say, coming in my expectations, where I was very, very excited but one of my expectations was kind of like I didn't really know what the setup would be like and if it would be like transition.
Speaker 3:This because you know, it's to take a while, but really I've been getting to do the public relations side a lot more than I thought I would and as a PR nerd, that is something that makes me so happy. Getting to talk to the public has always been a thing for me. I love public speaking. I love talking to people. It's I'm a talker.
Speaker 1:I've been looking forward to this all day. It's a this or that, and I'm a talker. I've been looking forward to this all day. It's a this or that, and we're not going to take terms. You guys can just blurt out your thing. Okay, council meeting or community event.
Speaker 4:Community event Council meeting.
Speaker 1:Ah, there we go. We got two Parks and Rec or police ride-along.
Speaker 3:Parks and Rec. Parks and Rec.
Speaker 1:I'm a police ride-along every time.
Speaker 4:To be fair, I've not been on a police ride-along.
Speaker 1:Oh, I haven't either I'm still waiting, oh wait, I have to just let Chief know I'm busy. I'm busy protecting my job, don't be mad at me, they're busy protecting the city. Well, same, same. Find your time, I know right. Okay, next spreadsheet or site visit. Site visit Spreadsheet. You guys are I already knew these after you just talked Public speaking or behind the scenes Public speaking.
Speaker 4:Public speaking.
Speaker 1:Oh, that surprises me. You're a little quieter than Maddie.
Speaker 4:Luke, do you want to tell your fun fact about what you got into in college Fun fact so University of Georgia has a mock trial team and our mock trial team just placed third in the country this past year and I'm a member of said mock trial team. So it is a lot of public speaking and for someone who doesn't know what mock trial is, basically we get together in a courtroom and we pretend we're acting out a trial yeah, which sounds about as nerdy as possible for someone trying to go to law school.
Speaker 4:So my role currently with mock trial is as an expert witness. So what I do is I get a 20 page document including statistics and biological facts and all of these fun science-y stuff in addition to a fictional affidavit about the case, and I have to memorize everything on those 20 pages.
Speaker 4:And then I go into court dressed up, all nice, pretending I have a new name, a new identity, everything I'm asked about those questions, and I have to have everything ready. And it is an excellent demonstration of what happens in a courtroom, but it is certainly a lot of public speaking that is amazing.
Speaker 1:I love all of that.
Speaker 3:Wait, can I ask, do y'all do line by lines?
Speaker 4:We do not do line by lines, so rather than what's a line by line?
Speaker 1:Thank you, you're welcome. Gotta take care of us, the old people.
Speaker 3:A strategy. I did mock trial a little bit in high school and for a different club in high school, but line by lines are a strategy of going through an affidavit, each line by line and rewriting it in your own words so you know exactly what that line kind of says. And that was my favorite thing to do because I would make it so like it would literally be like three words. So I knew like I would literally be like three words. So I knew like I'd be like like if I had to testify about.
Speaker 3:Did you make it fluffy? No, I was like tire mark Chevrolet 1986. Like, like I would summarize it down to that. And it was so much fun.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I would have never have guessed.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I. Maybe it's because I haven't had a full two cups of coffee today, but normally I do really love public speaking and honestly, that's why I got into politics.
Speaker 1:You're going to be the one that people are going to have to look out for in the trial room because they're going to go. Oh, this guy's quiet, he's so calm and you're going to come out like a shark.
Speaker 4:All part of the grand strategy.
Speaker 2:Ah, I like it. Well then, this is everybody's invitation. Who's listening? Right now, august 4th, they do a final presentation to council as to what they've done over the semester. So if you want to come here, these two phenomenal public speakers speak.
Speaker 1:August 4th, 6 pm. See you there. I'm here for it. Now I'm going to continue down my this or that's because I'm I'm committed and this one I. I know half of you coffee or energy drink coffee, coffee energy drink right here, always tiktok or instagram instagram tiktok monday morning, friday afternoon, monday morning, friday afternoon formal meeting or casual brainstorm.
Speaker 4:Brainstorm, I'd say a formal meeting.
Speaker 1:Boy, we you pulled some. They're similar, but so not all at the same time. That's amazing, answering phones or taking notes taking notes.
Speaker 4:Answering phones.
Speaker 1:Yup, and big picture thinking or detail diving I would say big picture I.
Speaker 3:I like the details, I get into it. I can get down to like the nitty-gritty of like okay, this plant is gonna go here for this event. Then I'll get into that like my dorm room for any parents listening that are sending your kid to college.
Speaker 3:My mother figured out how to advice from maddie, here we go maddie, but my mother figured out how to make a grid of my dorm room on graph paper to the point where each block represented one square foot of my dorm room, and she planned out everything down to detail. So I come by it, honestly, it's natural I am.
Speaker 1:Honestly, I don't even think my my parents knew which college I went to when I left the house.
Speaker 2:It's still debatable on whether they knew what state I was in at that point I think my parents drove me to college, put all of my stuff in the dorm, didn't unload it and then left. All right, bye, good night. You got this. Make friends yeah see you in three months.
Speaker 1:Clean your room Bye Same same Well. I ghosted my parents because we didn't have cell phones. Not going to lie, we did not have cell phones. And now that I have three children, all of which have gone through college my youngest just graduated from UGA in December and you know, know, I have the luxury of FaceTime and phones and whatnot. I don't even know if I called my parents when I got to college, like they were probably sitting at home going. Do I have that other child? Is she still?
Speaker 2:were you not like pen pals? Is that what y'all did back then?
Speaker 1:no, no pigeon, we used pigeon, Even better Pigeon. It was very, very efficient. I was going to go with carrier horse, but same thing, oh, the Pony Express, the Pony Express.
Speaker 2:Yes absolutely.
Speaker 1:We're going to change the subject because Emily is. I say it with love, full of love, full of love. All right, so we got through this or that. What are you hoping to walk away with at the end of this internship?
Speaker 3:that's a big question, because I feel like I've gained so much in three days. I have no idea what I'm gonna gain at the end of 10 weeks, like that's crazy what's your?
Speaker 3:hope, but I would hope to have even a clearer understanding of what I want to do in life and be that knowing I want to do public. You like going into that stuff like the nitty-gritty of what's a beast? Excel is a beast. I'm a google person, so it's been a transition. It come by it honestly. My dad was a big google person and therefore I learned everything google before microsoft.
Speaker 3:No, idea why the google use the google but it was, I will say, like learning stuff, like that has been super fun and super helpful and things I'll be able to lean on for a long time. It's skills like that that I'm excited to come away with yeah, is there a department that you are fixated on? I'm I promise I'm not sucking up.
Speaker 1:I love event planning and stuff like that, you like that community outreach Community outreach.
Speaker 2:I tell everybody I think I have the most fun job in the city and I know Ranger Jen thinks she has the most fun job. And you might think you have the most fun job. Mine actually is that I'm paid to have fun.
Speaker 1:You're paid to be fun.
Speaker 2:I'm paid to be fun and to throw the fun.
Speaker 3:You called yourself the other day. You said I need a nameplate that says party planner.
Speaker 2:Professional party planner. Professional party planner shenanigan leader I.
Speaker 1:I think we can do way better than that.
Speaker 4:Let me get back to you on that I really would love that, thank you, I'm, I'm gonna come up a new name plate how about you I think that for me, I know government is where I want to end up and, having spent all of high school, my time at city of milton with one department, with the occasional trip outside, yeah, it was very, very good, but I don't think I got a full picture of what city government looked like and could be, and so you know, part of the name of the summer internship is comprehensive, and one thing I would love to do is really understand how the city of Milton works as like an organism. There is no single thing that happens independent of one another. Like you know, we're just sitting around a table. You've got two to three departments if you want to call the interns, a separate department represented here.
Speaker 4:Right, and then every other meeting I go to, you've got multiple different departments.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and Milton's really good about that because, like, even as we look at different projects or events that come up, it is very much a group effort. We pull from all the departments because everybody has a different perspective, everybody has different needs. If you're looking at the website, com dev needs something different from the website than public works and pd does, and it's something that you have to take in to consideration when you're building larger things that involve everybody is how is this going to serve these departments independently but also cohesively?
Speaker 4:A hundred percent, a hundred percent, and I think that you know on the on the receiving side, Maddie and. I are both Milton residents. I've lived in Milton for, I guess at this point, 13, almost 14 years, so you know I was around when City Hall didn't even exist as a building. 2006 Heritage Walk was not there, and so I've watched these buildings come up, I've watched the roads develop, I've watched zoning change all of these things.
Speaker 1:And you paid attention to that as a kid.
Speaker 4:My parents were very big about raising us civically minded. So one thing that I learned as a kid was— I think I failed at parenting Luke.
Speaker 1:Now I'm second-guessing all the decisions I've made in my entire life.
Speaker 4:Well, when we were raised and there was an election and I'm talking any election they would place the sample ballot on the fridge and tell us to research whoever was there, not just who is running for president or senator, but who is running for city council mayor, all of the random public service commissioners, all of the different ombudsmen or whatever. All of these very niche positions you may not think impact you. We were told research the candidates. Don't just vote for a name, don't just vote for a party, don't just vote the first name. You see, understand who you're voting for and what you're voting for. And I think that's trickled down to how I approach government, which is everything you know. I did say I like big picture, but the big picture can only happen if the details are right, and so understanding how all of these different things work together, the people who are making it happen that's really what I hope to get out of this is learn more about what makes City of Milton tick.
Speaker 1:There's not very often where I have zero words. I mean, there was a couple of times in the last episode that I did, but I don't know that I have words right now. I'm literally second-guessing my entire parenting skill set.
Speaker 2:You could say that was a pretty comprehensive answer, couldn't you?
Speaker 1:It was. And there we go with that big old word Comprehensive. I love it, I'm super impressed, I'm literally super impressed with you two, and I think that not only will you guys get a lot out of this internship, but I think Milton will gain a lot of perspective from it too, because this is a learning on both sides. We learn from the younger people that are coming in, and you guys sometimes see things differently than what we're used to. And's the point, right, it's. It's a different perspective. I love it. I'm all. I'm all about it. Emily, is there anything you want to add about this program or about this group of spectacular interns?
Speaker 2:well. The program itself is incredibly cool and I come from a teaching background, so, moving into this new position, I've definitely missed that aspect of watching people and kids You're not kids, you're young adults grow and mature and find out what they want to do, and it's been a part of my life that I've missed. And so the internship every year always gets me excited because I love bringing in new people. I love my department, I love this city, but it's like the Mean Girls quote where he's like fresh meat coming through. It's one of my favorite quotes. I get so excited because there's freshness, there's newness.
Speaker 1:There's new ideas.
Speaker 2:And the things that your generation is able and capable of doing is astounding. You have such a unique perspective and outlook on everything Like I would have never thought to put a ballot on my refrigerator and make my future children research candidates Like that's brilliant.
Speaker 1:Do you want me to tell you what that looked like in the week's household? I'm afraid to ask, but we watch politics my children not that they don't have their own perspectives and their own, and they all vote and whatnot. They just don't want to talk about it because my house was inundated with it, so they're like I didn't want to talk about it Understandable. Well, you know, it's not gentle parenting at the week's household, it is mass information.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Figure it out for yourself, Right? It's not my job to tell you what to think. It's my job to tell you you need to figure it out and you need to research all the angles and make sure you know what you're talking about.
Speaker 2:And that's exactly what this internship is.
Speaker 1:Look at that.
Speaker 2:So my parenting skills don't suck, not at all, not even a little bit.
Speaker 1:I do have pretty great kids but that's the.
Speaker 2:That's the thing. We'll give them a project and I don't want to tell you how to do the project. I'll tell you. If you need the first step, I'm happy to do so, but I'm excited to see what they do. I think this is an incredibly, incredibly bright group of interns that we've had. So, I'm sure any of my past interns who are listening to this. Thank you for paving the way for this incredible internship and I'm really excited to see what happens this summer.
Speaker 1:Well, maddie and Luke, we shall find out, because we're going to circle back towards the end of your time here and do a whole recap and see how this aligns with your overall experience, and I do appreciate y'all being here today. Thank you so much. Thanks, christy.
Speaker 4:You're very welcome.
Speaker 1:All right, more to come, everybody More to come. But that's a wrap on our first conversation with the summer interns. Over the next couple of months they'll be scattered across the departments, working on everything from policy to communications to community engagement which we already know Maddie loves and probably picking up more real-world experience than they bargained for. But we'll catch up with them again at the end of the summer, but in the meantime, if you see them around City Hall or at an event, say hello. They're sharp, curious and clearly not afraid of a challenge. And hey, who knows, maybe you're listening and thinking you could be the next intern. So until next time.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in to Milton and Maine, take care. Thanks for listening to Milton and Maine. We hope this episode gave you fresh insights into what makes our city so special. Stay connected and don't miss an episode by subscribing to this podcast on your favorite platform and following us on social media for all updates. And, of course, if you want to learn more about the city, visit us online at wwwmiltongagov for resources, news and upcoming events. Until next time, thanks for being part of the conversation and we'll see you on the next Milton and Maine.