Spring 2012

Intern Newsletter

Spring 2012 Interns

Director’s Note

Spring is here. The capital is full of life and we’re getting ready

for the summer, when interns come from all over the country. We are particularly excited to be celebrating the 20th anniver-

sary of the HACU National Internship Program (HNIP). During

this milestone year, we are planning several activities to recon-

nect with all those who have participated in our internship pro-

gram. We have developed an online database project and en-courage all alumni to register here. Alumni who create an ac-

count will receive an invitation to complete the HNIP impact

survey. The survey analysis will be presented at the HNIP Em-

erald Gala to be held on October 22, 2012 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

We have just wrapped up the 17th Annual National Capitol Fo-

rum, our major advocacy event. During the Capitol Forum, the

HACU Alumni Association held its annual benefit reception and

awarded two scholarships to alumni. The HAA Board is very

active and needs your support. All funds raised by the HAA go directly to programs and activities that will benefit alumni and

current participants in HACU student programs. With all the

amazing talent we have in our potential, current and past in-

terns, HNIP will continue developing the workforce of tomor-row and opening doors of opportunity.

Enjoy the rest of your internship and continue to be engaged

with HACU!

All the best,

Maria Elena Vivas-House

Upcoming

Intern Activities

APRIL

5–Third Intern Meeting

Location:

ETS

1800 K Street NW

Suite 900

Washington, D.C.

Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

19–Spring 2012 Farewell

Reception

Location:

OPM

1900 E Street, NW

Washington, D.C.

Time: 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Inside this issue:

A VALUable

Experience 2

Unique Opportunity 2

Out of My Comfort

Zone 3

An Awesome

Internship 3

Interns in Atlanta

CDC 4

HACU Alumni

Association 5

Follow us on:

Phone: 202-467-0893 Fax: 202-496-9177

E-mail: hnip@hacu.net

HACU NATIONAL

INTERNSHIP

PROGRAM

One Dupont Circle, N.W.

Suite 430

Washington, D.C. 20036

www.hacu.net/hnip

A VALUable Experience By Rhonda Mull VA Learning University- Washington, D.C.

University of Maryland, University College Spring 2012 Intern

Page 2 Spring 2012

Unique Opportunity By Matthew Anaya USDA- Forest Service - Seattle, WA

San Antonio College Spring 2012 Intern

This spring session I am working from my

home in San Antonio, Texas for the Forest

Service’s AirFire Research Team headquar-

tered in Seattle, Washington. The AirFire

Research Team is an applied science office

that studies how the atmosphere inter-

acts with severe wild land fires. I was

offered this telework opportunity after

completing my internship at the Seattle

office in the summer of 2011. This al-

lows me to gain experience in the scien-

tific field, enroll in related courses at San

Antonio College and dedicate more time

to studying, programming, and complet-

ing problem sets.

My principal project involves writing a

program and script that create a climatology

showing statistics for an atmospheric metric

called CAPE (Convective Available Potential

Energy). CAPE is an indicator for atmos-

pheric instability and it could be used to

predict the conditions in which a large wild

land fire may occur. The statistics cover a

30 year period and are on a base CAPE and

a modified CAPE (calculated with potential

heat and moisture contributions from wild

land fires) at each of the roughly 10,000 grid

points on the North American Regional Re-

analysis domain. The climatology will eventu-

ally serve as a resource for wildland managers

to better understand the environment in

which severe wildland fires occur.

Throughout the internship, my supervisor

Brian Potter has been guiding me through the

scientific processes and introducing me to

many new technologies and subjects. New

skills I have gained include programming in

C++, writing shell scripts, operating in com-

mand line Linux, and using a visualization

program called Ferret. Accomplishments I

have made includes writing one shell script

that created a directory with 120 folders

in less than one second and another script

that renamed about 20,000 files and

moved them into said directory, according

to their new filenames, in under two sec-

onds. These tasks were necessary to

store the records I am working with into

one large directory. The skills I have

learned and the assignments I have com-

pleted have given me a better understand-

ing of the power of computers and the

language needed to use them efficiently.

I am grateful for having been afforded this

learning experience. This session highlights

some of the many opportunities that are

available through the HACU National Intern-

ship Program. Thank you HACU very much

for giving us interns such valuable opportuni-

ties.

What Do You VALU? These were the words

that greeted me as I walked into the VA

Learning University (VALU) on my first day. I

continue to reflect on these words as I per-

form my job in my internship offered through

HACU. My internship at the VA Learning

University has been an amazing opportunity

and a truly great learning experience. The

VALU mission is to develop job skills, boost

leadership and professional performance, and

bring about personal growth. I know that my

work is helping to fulfill VALU’s mission.

This internship has given me the chance to

learn from different professionals and gain

invaluable information within a business man-

Fair and Expo was an event hosted by the

department of Veteran Affairs. This Veteran-

focused event was attended by thousands of

Veterans who competed for over 6,400 public

and private sector job opportunities. As a

volunteer at the event, I directed Veterans to

interactive job seeker workshops and assisted

other personnel with crucial tasks. I have also

participated in strategic planning meetings.

This was my first chance to be involved in a

strategic planning meeting. As an intern I felt

honored that my feedback was welcomed and

appreciated.

An intern has many roles, a listener, learner,

assistant and if you’re lucky a contributor.

VALU really shows its commitment to its

employees. For example, recently I experi-

enced my first company move. Seeing an en-

tire department relocate was amazing. Every-

thing was well organized and thorough to

ensure a smooth transition.

Working at VALU has allowed me to focus on

my career goals and continue my academic

education. I am thankful and honored to say

that I am a HACU intern working at VALU.

agement environment. I have been able to

assist with training sessions and classes

that will aid thousands of employees that

currently work in Veteran Affairs to im-

prove their service to Veterans and their

families. The work that I am doing will

make a difference in a Veteran’s life.

During the fall internship session, I sup-

ported the Procurement Analyst and

Directorate of my department, which is

the Learning Infrastructure. The Learning

Infrastructure Department is responsible for

the advancement of the VA Learning Man-

agement System and other VA enterprise

learning technologies. Now coming into my

spring session, my role at VALU has grown.

While still performing my regular duties, I

am now assisting members within my de-

partment with multiple training projects.

Currently I am supporting the Education

Program Specialist by scheduling training

classrooms for domain learning managers

for the fourth quarter and conducting mar-

ket research.

I recently volunteered to support the VA

for Vets Career Fair and Expo. The Career

Page 3

Out Of My Comfort Zone By Linda Mercado U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Washington, D.C.

Texas A&M International University Spring 2012 Intern

Since coming to our nation's capitol in

January, my HACU experience has been

steadily improving by the week. As an

MLIS (Master's of Library Science) student,

being placed at the largest and most au-

thoritative library in the world, the Library

of Congress has been an amazing opportu-

nity. The staff at OSI (Office of Strategic

Initiatives) has been more than hospitable

with a weeklong orientation, tours of the

Preservation, Copyright, and Hispanic

sections, and access to coordinate with

many players the library. It's especially

nice to mingle with the many former

HACU interns turned employees at the

library and learn the path to full employ-

ment.

For my main task, Sandra Hoyer and I are

updating metadata on the libraries older

digital collections so they can integrate

into the new search engine launching this

summer. If you've ever been to loc.gov,

it's like a history of the internet in one

site; a modern homepage linked up to

Mosaic and Netscape 2.0 pages from the

An Awesome Internship By Michael Mastrangelo Library of Congress- Washington, D.C.

San Jose State University Spring 2012 Intern

early days of the Internet and inconsistent

metadata. Our work will get these older pages

up to speed and standards so the new faceted

search technology can make the vast wealth of

knowledge at the library searchable from inside

and outside the site. Sandra and I have been

looking at thousands Work Progress Admini-

stration manuscripts and Farm Service Admini-

stration photos turning us not only into digital

librarians, but also mini-experts on American

life in the late 19th century through the 1940's.

My skill sets are growing as we take on new

projects, expanding my visual literacy, technical

reading skills, relational database design, and

project management. Sandra and I have been

invited back to complete our projects in the

summer, and we'll hopefully see a successful

launch of our work in August at loc.gov

Outside of my main tasks I take tai-chi classes,

hang out with my awesome roommates Carlos,

Ray and Cesar, go on dates with my girlfriend

Dayanita, and search the city for good cheap

vegetarian food. At the LOC we've also started

a blog for the HACU interns to write about

our experiences and the great lecture series

that happen at the library. I've learned about

art conservation, revolutionary dance troupes,

and the infamous Washington newspaper titan,

Cissy Patterson. It's a great outlet to share

professional development and advice for future

interns. Even further outside my main tasks I'm

practicing my song repertoire to join DC's

robust busking scene.

I'm so grateful that HACU offers this awesome

internship and opportunity; it by far surpasses

my prior jobs and has taken me from working

on an obscure

niche San Fran-

cisco film archive,

to the largest

information re-

pository ever

assembled. I can't

thank HACU

enough, and I'm

looking forward

to supporting

them at the Capi-

tol Forum this

March.

ples of accounting and finance in the project I

have been assigned to complete for the spring

semester, constantly being mentored by my

supervisor and guided to creating the best

result possible. This is why programs like

HACU are so essential for the success of

students and their futures.

Furthermore, living in Washington, D.C. has

allowed me to explore what the center of the

free world has to offer. Having the opportu-

nity to explore different museums every

Having the opportunity to participate in the

HACU internship experience in Washington,

D.C. has truly been life changing. My first day

at work was a wonderful experience. I was

greeted by my supervisor Ms. Oliver and later

introduced to the special audits group team,

which I have been assigned to assist, as well as

the rest of the great staff of the Office of the

Inspector General. I quickly learned that the

OIG is dedicated to conduct audits for con-

tinuous improvement to the management and

operations at the Office of Personnel Manage-

ment. Their vision is upheld throughout the

agents’ work and publications; they are con-

stantly working with federal employees by

ensuring that operations are running effi-

ciently and effectively in order for all employ-

ees to be treated fairly; in conjunction making

sure American tax dollars are being put to

proper use.

Working as an auditor who is part of a great

team has given me the opportunity to have

hands on experience, which I believe is im-

perative for anyone to succeed in their field of

choice. I have been able to apply the princi-

weekend has been so much fun and such a

great way to enjoy American History and

worldly issues. D.C. not only has the history

but also the international culture and cuisine

that cannot be beat. I have been able to

attend the Chocolate Festival at the Mu-

seum of the American Indian, where I was

able to learn how chocolate is made, where

it originates and the history of the native

culture in the Americas. I have also been

able to witness the blooming of the cherry

blossoms, which I must say are beautiful.

Coming from South Texas, we hardly get to

see the change of seasons, but being here

has allowed me to finally experience full

spring! I have also had the privilege of par-

ticipating in HACU events, which have al-

lowed me to improve my networking and

presentations skills.

My experience here has allowed me to push

myself out of my comfort zone and grow as

an individual; without the help of HACU I

would not have been able to accomplish this

goal. Thank you HACU!

Page 4

HACU Interns in Atlanta Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

I’m a student at Florida Interna-

tional University and HACU has

given me the opportunity to ven-

ture into the city of Atlanta, GA.

From the beginning the idea of

exploring the wonderful city of

Atlanta with a fabulous coat on

excited me I’ve always liked the

idea of big cities and cold weather.

Upon arrival, I confronted tem-

peratures of 46 degrees! Basically,

below 0 if you are coming from

Miami. This experience has been

incredible to say the least; I have

been reformed. I have never lived

away from home, and sharing a

house with roommates, having to

clean, do groceries and cook with-

out any assistance has been em-

powering. The most amazing part

has been my time with CDC, in the

Capital Planning office, I have met

great people with incredible insight

that will aid my development and

serve me as lifelong lessons. I firmly

believe that what doesn’t challenge

you doesn’t change you and that is

what it is all about! Improving!

Fabiana Alvarado Florida International University

After seven weeks of working at

the CDC— National Center for

HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, &

TB Prevention, I can say the ex-

perience has been one of great

gratification and of extensive

professional growth. Personally

it’s a privilege be part of a work-

force that fosters and delivers

strategies on public health. See-

ing how the agency collaborates

at a community, state, national

and international level to accom-

plish its different missions has

provided me

a broad

perspective

of the different scenarios and

options available for professional

growth after graduation. My

current internship projects in-

clude translating into Spanish a

complete website and providing

statistical analysis of the website

data that includes: audience be-

havior, traffic sources, and con-

tent insights for an overall depic-

tion of the efficacy of the web

page. I am extremely thankful for

the opportunity HACU has pro-

vided me, and feel blessed to

have met many great mentors, co

-workers and new friends during

this new journey.

Ashley Andújar University of Puerto Rico- Medical Sciences

As the time that I arrived to At-

lanta, I knew that the experience

working with the Center of

Global Health at the CDC would

impact my life. As an intern at

CDC I have had the privilege to

meet and share thoughts about

public health with people from all

around the world. Learning

about other countries and how

they are working with the differ-

ent health issues is a really amaz-

ing experience.

Sometimes the

work can be

very challenging

but is very re-

warding if you

really like what

you are doing.

This is my case;

I’m really enjoy-

ing all of this

experience.

Lorinet Martell-Martínez University of Puerto Rico- Medical Sciences

Working at

the CDC as a

Spring 2012

intern has been an immensely rewarding ex-

perience! From the very first day, I felt like I

had found my home away from home. The

team and the branch have been beyond

friendly and welcoming. I have had the oppor-

tunity to apply pe-

d a n t i c knowledge

and glean p r a c t i c a l

day to day w o r k i n g

e x p e r i - ence. The

work itself has been

assigned in a manner

that has felt natural

and done with grace

and ease despite being challenging and fulfill-

ing. Thanks to HNIP for the confidence and

work experience that this internship has in-

stilled in me to go achieve my dreams upon

completing my degree!

Ichhya Pant Georgia State University

Currently,

I am work-

i ng a t

CDC in the National Center for Immuniza-

tion and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). To

date, a lot of my time has been devoted to

meeting with Influenza Division personnel;

participating in conference calls and conduct-

ing research to understand the processes

involved in Influenza Reagent Resource (IRR)

product distribution. Finally, I will be attend-

ing the Influenza Division International Team

Scientific Symposium on Friday, March 9, 2012

to hear experts discuss field work in the Influ-

enza Division. For example, presenters will

lecture on vaccines and antivirals in Central

America, as well as the surveillance, capacity

and policy development in West Africa.

Insofar as external activities, I have been ex-

ploring north and central Atlanta via dining

experiences, jazz clubs and museum outings.

In fact, I will be attending a reception on Sun-

day, March 18, 2012 at Hammond’s House

(i.e. Museum of Fine Arts) to obtain informa-

tion about becoming a docent or Event Vol-

unteer on the weekends. Also, this upcoming

week I will attend the Division of Global HIV/

AIDS annual meeting to become more aware

of the opportunities and mechanisms for inte-

grating Global Health activities with other

CDC programs.

Richard Chilton Benedictine University– Illinois

Fabiana, Lorinet and Ashley

spending some quality time in

Atlanta.

Page 5

HACU ALUMNI

ASSOCIATION Board Members

Chair

Fabiana Perera

Secretary

Lázaro Sandoval

Treasurer

Javier Araujo

Vice-Chair, Community Affairs

Virgilio Barrera

Vice-Chair, Program Affairs

Gilda Cornejo

Vice-Chair, Fundraising

Nicole Baltazar

Member-at Large

Josue Barrera

Member-at-Large

Vacant

HAA Intern Board Member

Spring 2012

Cesar X. Sanchez

www.hacu.net/

alumni

Presenting

Spring 2012 HAA Intern Board Member

Cesar X. Sanchez Cesar X. Sanchez was

born and raised in the

Fresno, CA metropolitan

area – the most populated

region of California’s San

Joaquin Valley. The son of

hardworking Mexican

immigrants, he was always

expected to pursue higher

education by his parents.

As a result of their consis-

tent encouragement and

guidance, he ultimately

graduated from Fresno State where he received un-

dergraduate degrees in Business Administration –

Entrepreneurship, Economics, as well as a Certificate

in Finance. He is also a current candidate to receive

his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from

Fresno State’s Sid Craig School of Business.

Aside from education, Cesar has consistently been

involved with public service. He was elected Junior

Class President during high school, and served on

Fresno State’s student body government as both the

elected Senator for the Sid Craig School of Business

and Vice President of Finance – the second highest

elected position. In addition, he has served on multi-

ple boards such as the Fresno County Democratic

Central Committee (FCDCC), American Civil Liber-

ties Union (ACLU) – Greater Fresno Area, and is

currently the elected Spring 2012 Intern Board Mem-

ber for the HACU Alumni Association (HAA).

Cesar also founded and managed a high-tech startup

for two years – Thot Studios – that specialized in the

development of mobile phone and iPad applications.

The skills he learned from his education, public service

experience, and business experience strongly prepared

him for the federal government work he undertook

through the HACU National Internship Program

(HNIP).

Cesar describes his selection as a HACU intern to be

a pivotal moment in his life. Through HNIP, he has

worked at the United States Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA) in the Washington D.C./Baltimore, MD

area, as well as in Fresno, CA. His current HACU

internship placement is at the Library of Congress –

Office of Strategic Initiatives, where he works as a

Project Manager & Business Analyst Intern for Infor-

mation Technology Services (ITS). Because of the

experience and opportunities he has been able to gain

and see through the HACU National Internship Pro-

gram (HNIP), Cesar is now considering a career with

the federal government after he receives his MBA. His

next educational endeavor will be law school, with a

focus in contractual agreements.

Congratulations to HACU Honorary Alumna

Maria Goldberg

The HACU Alumni Association (HAA) presented Ms.

Maria Goldberg with the Honorary Alumna distinction

at the Capitol Forum Alumni Benefit Reception on

March 26, 2012. Mrs. Goldberg is

the second person to receive this

honor; Mr. William Gil, Vice Presi-

dent of Programs at the Congres-

sional Hispanic Caucus Institute,

was the first.

Maria Goldberg is currently the

Executive Director of the Hispanic

-Serving Institutions (HSI) National

Program at the United States De-

partment of Agriculture. She leads

a national team dedicated to ad-

dressing the needs of Hispanic

Serving Institutions and the com-

munities they serve through pro-

motion of professional and educa-

tional opportunities to students,

faculty and staff affiliated with these

institutions across the nation.

Ms. Goldberg has also served USDA in positions as

budget analyst, international trade policy analyst, and

civil rights advisor. Prior to joining the Federal Gov-

ernment, Ms. Goldberg worked

fourteen years in private industry

including the finance industry and

restaurant management. She is a

graduate of the University of North

Dakota.

The USDA has been a strong sup-

ported and partner of the HACU

National Internship Program and has

provided hundreds of internships to

HACU interns over the years. Mrs.

Goldberg can and should be credited

for making so many of these posi-

tions happen, along with her capable

and dedicated staff.

As we celebrate the milestone of 20

years of opening doors of opportu-

nity to students it is only fitting that we also celebrate

the dedication and support of a woman that embodies

HACU’s mission, values and goals.