Empowerment, Empathy, and Experience: An OPI Internship Story

I began my internship at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) on November 18th, 2019. I remember my first moments at CDOT and sitting at my desk on the southwest corner of the 4th floor where I could watch the dramatic scenes and occasional car accident playing out on the intersection of Howard and Federal. I was the only intern in the office that day since Sydney, my intern buddy, did not work on Mondays. Still, there was a welcome party waiting for me with giant blueberry muffins from Costco and apple pies.

Workplace culture often seems like a buzzy fluff word that many employers use without thinking about it’s real impact on employee satisfaction or productivity. So often, workplace culture is experienced passively without much effort to steer it or change it for the better. In the Office of Process Improvement, I felt the effort that went into the creation of a positive workplace culture on my first day and will continue to feel the benefits of it far into my career.

As a result of my warm welcome to the team, I felt more relaxed on my first day that I had at any job before. I felt free to speak my mind in meetings early on, to be myself and unleash my personality on my coworkers, and to take the small risks that would eventually lead to big impacts. During this internship, I never felt stupid for asking questions. I felt empowered by my teammates to advocate for myself and to ask to work on things that were important to me. When I didn’t know something, I was given the material and opportunity to learn for myself.