Internship Reflection
By Rebekah Roux, Innovation & Improvement Intern
December 28, 2022
As an intern in the Office of Process Improvement (OPI), I have been given the opportunity to work with new and wonderful people who have taught me so much about change management and process improvement. Gary Vansuch, Michelle Malloy and my fellow interns have been very welcoming and helped me explore projects outside of my comfort zone, including my primary role as Web Designer for the OPI website! I have learned about the tremendous impact a well laid out website can have when communicating in a professional setting.
Rebekah and her fellow interns at the Region 1 Roadeo.
Since my first day at this internship Gary always stated that “an intern's first job is to learn”, and this belief led to a lot of exciting opportunities to explore the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) as a whole. In addition to learning through my work with the website, I was also involved with the Prosci 3-day Change Manager Practitioners course as the third chair producer two weeks after my start date of April 4, 2021 as the 72nd intern. This was a great introduction to the internship as it allowed me to sit-in and learn about change management and process improvement as a “fly on the wall”. Later in my internship, I was able to take this course and become a certified change management practitioner!
An intern outing at the Denver International Airport.
Shortly after this course I attended the Region 1 Roadeo with my fellow interns Ronald Archer and Stephen Barela where I was able to drive a snow plow and got experience inside a CDOT front lifter! Experiences like this have been given to me throughout my time as an OPI intern and also materialized with intern outings. These guided tours allow the interns to inquire about areas we want to learn more about! The most memorable tour for me was the Central-70 tour where we went to an active construction site and were able to learn about the history of the construction and how it impacted the community around the project.
My favorite part of my CDOT internship was working in person with Bus Rapid TRansit (BRT) and Region 1 divisions of CDOT on the initiatives they are trying to implement and the plans they have for the future. As a hands-on learner, working with these teams and being able to watch change management in action helped me understand the application of change management in the workplace. I was also given the opportunity to do “Sit-Withs” to learn more about career paths I’m interested in. This is an interview with various state government agency professionals for a chosen length of time where an intern can meet someone who shares similar interests and ask about their current occupation and how they got to where they are in their career.
Rebekah with three fellow OPI interns at the central-70 tour.
As my internship ends I am reflecting on the people I've met, the opportunities I’ve been presented with, and my new understanding of change management. I feel as though my time as an intern with OPI has been spent learning and growing in the best way. My parting message to future interns is not to shy away from the experiences you have access to! Thank you to the OPI team for working with me through this internship and helping me prepare for the next stages of my professional career!