An Alternative View of Public Service

The following speech was given at the Washington Academic Internship Program Event with Senator John and Annie Glenn on Feb 9 in Washington DC. The only guideline for writing the speech was "tell Senator Glenn what public service means to you." Even though I am currently interning in Washington DC and surrounded by examples of public service on all sides, I could not stop thinking about all the CRIS employees and how they exemplified public service every day.My experience as an intern at CRIS was definitely the most fulfilling experience of my college career. Everyone from the staff to the clients had amazing stories and taught me much more than I could have ever learned from collegiate classes alone. Now, as I am a few weeks away from graduation and attempting to figure out what to do in life, I can only hope that I have the opportunity to work in an atmosphere like CRIS with such a supportive staff and tremendous clients.“When inquiring about Americans’ idea of public service, they usually respond with some answer referring to the work of politicians, teachers, police officers, or firefighters. Although these professions entail the most common perceptions of public service, I will present an alternative view."When considering the perception of America by foreigners, many people believe that the view of Americans is negative or at least on the decline. However, talking to one individual yet diverse subset of people, the response is usually extremely different. This group is refugees, and their view is what most Americans cherish but believe is unattainable, the American Dream. Working at a refugee resettlement and services agency, Community Refugee and Immigration Services, allowed me to experience the benefit of public service with the newest members of the American community. The people who come to CRIS vary in age, religion, gender, nationality, and socio-economic background.However, most of them come from a country that is stereotypically anti-American to the United States and is in a state of crisis, such as Somali, Iraq, Bhutan, Sudan, and Burma, among others. Nevertheless, after living in central Ohio region for even as little as a few months, this subset of the population almost always becomes enamored with the idea of becoming an American citizen and achieving the American dream. Seeing this process unfold firsthand is probably the greatest gift a public servant can ever receive from those they help. This unique example of public service allows a person to realize the impact that the United States of America truly has on transforming the lives of people throughout the entire world. This gives the public servant the only validation he or she needs in the job, gratitude."Jay Hunter is a former intern at CRIS. He graduated from The Ohio State University this March with a degree in International Studies with a specialization in Security and Intelligence and minor in Slavic Languages and Literature. As an intern at CRIS, he worked in a variety of tasks for primarily the ESOL and Employment Programs out of the North Office. He hopes to stay actively involved with the refugee and immigrant communities regardless of where he ends up working and living.