Post 2: Setting Goals: What do you expect to gain from this internship? What are your goals for this internship? Set at least 2 SMART goals (Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely).

Goal 1: I want to sharpen and improve my writing skills and, perhaps more importantly, gain confidence in the writing capability that I already have. I've done what I would consider a reasonable amount of writing in the last years outside of coursework and school assignments. Spring of my senior year of high school, I volunteered extensively with Boyer Children's Clinic, a Seattle non-profit early intervention clinic that works with developmentally delayed toddlers. I wrote them a grant asking for 3,000 dollars of programming funding, and that grant was approved. I also wrote for the CMC Forum this year at school. However, I am still an amateur writer in every sense of the word. At CityClub, I want to find opportunities to do writing for the organization. My goal is for the work I produce to benefit CityClub by being useful to them, and to give me a chance to continue to improve my skills. I think I have taken a couple of steps in the right direction, fortunately. I have already produced some fringe content for the CityClub website, and written an article encouraging the citizens of Seattle to tune in to the upcoming local elections for CityClub's blog. I want my written work to be a force to be reckoned with and to be something that I am proud of.

Goal 2: Right now, I think that when I graduate from CMC, I would like to work in the non-profit sector. I think that by spending my days helping people and changing their lives for the better, I will be making a positive difference in the world and guaranteeing myself a lot of personal fulfillment. My goal is to, by spending this meaningful chunk of time at CityClub, gain some insight into if the non-profit sector is a good fit for me, and perhaps also to start to narrow down/focus in on what area of the non-profit sector I would want to work in. I will pay attention to my work environment, how happy, satisfied, and fulfilled my coworkers seem with their work and their lives, and how the job is making me feel. By the end of this internship, I hope to have at least some clue whether I belong in the non-profit sector. Also, by the time I leave CityClub I hope to know whether I could/would want to spend my career working in politics/political advocacy/civic engagement. I recognize that one can never truly "know" these things, but really all that I am hoping for is some understanding of myself. Hopefully, I can get to know myself over these next six weeks that I have left. Only time will tell, I suppose.    

Are these goals specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART)? I would say that they probably aren't. But, they are important to me.