In the fall of 2015 I had the opportunity to start an internship for the Office of the County Executive in the Fairfax County Government in Fairfax, VA. I conducted research on program evaluations, grant opportunities, and board items for county employees under the supervision of Fairfax County executives. After I was done with the research, I created webpages for the internal website of the department I worked for. Meanwhile, I attended many the Board of Directors and Board of Supervisors meetings.

My internship was a great opportunity for networking, which I took advantage of as much as I could. I was introduced to the county deputies and directors of the main departments, such as IT, budget and planning, etc. All the people I met in the office were so nice and pleasant. I also learned a lot about the overall work of the county and its procedures. My supervisor tried to make my internship meaningful and gave me motivation to do what I was doing. She was a perfect supervisor for as she allowed me to work independently, to figure out the task and how to accomplish it. At the same time, she was always ready to give advice and help. I am thankful for this opportunity and for Dr. Klara Bilgin, Dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at FXUA, who helped me to obtain this valuable internship

Oksana Zolotova
Alumni, MS in International Relations in Business