Lauren Meredith

Public Affairs Student Trainee, Denver Federal Center
Denver, Colorado

Bureau of Reclamation

How Lauren Meredith got involved with Bureau of Reclamation
My parents have both worked for the Federal Government for as long as I can remember. When I began to narrow down my specialties in school and realized where I wanted to have a career, I became a regular on USAJOBS.gov prowling the internet for any internships. When I caught wind of the SCEP position with the Bureau of Reclamation, I will admit that I knew very little about the types of student employment opportunities within the government. Still, it was easy to tell what an amazing opportunity this would be and I eagerly went about the application process. Fortunately (and clearly), it worked out!

Experience
I was barely a month into my job (if that much!) when I was told I would be making my first business trip. First, I would visit the headquarters office in D.C. in order to become better acquainted with the staff and operations there, and would then fly to Albuquerque to help work an America's Great Outdoors event. I was both thrilled and terrified; on one hand, it was an opportunity beyond my greatest intern dreams, on the other, I was still very new and very inexperienced. Fortunately, these trips turned out to be more than I could imagine. Everyone I met was both inspirational and fascinating! In Albuquerque, I was given the chance to help out whenever I could, The compliments I received on my enthusiasm for work still mean the world to me today. To me, it wasn't trying to have my hand in everything, I was just trying to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to learn from so many different people with so many different skill sets. Not to mention, it was amazing to work an event behind the scenes (i.e. - navigating through the hotel's kitchen to try and find the door that would lead to our conference room so I could deliver a functional laptop) and to be entrusted with vital tasks (i.e. - checking in media and important officials, including a senator and a congressman). It was one of the most exciting, scary, interesting, and educational experiences I can say I've been given.

Lauren Meredith's accomplishments
My work with Reclamation has allowed me to have a long list of accomplishments and lessons. I have come to understand what it is to be a good employee and coworker, as well as utilize my strong work ethic. I use a news aggregating service daily to sort and send relevant news articles throughout our organization, write internal stories showcasing the talented individuals that work for Reclamation, create communication plans, and develop media outreach strategies, amongst many other things! I have not only brought my knowledge from school into work, but work has provided me with an education I can bring into my classes. Every accomplishment, whether it be writing a press release or learning to work Vocus, has furthered me in both my career and education.

Lauren Meredith's next steps
I want to learn!! Reclamation has provided me with an amazing opportunity to learn and develop as both an individual and as a young professional. I plan and hope to continue learning everything I can for as long as they will let me. I also hope to be useful in whatever ways I am needed, whether it is social media, writing an internal article, or just brainstorming ideas. I hope to know more today than I did yesterday, and more tomorrow than I did today.

Hometown: Littleton, Colorado
School: University of Colorado at Boulder
Major: Communications from the College of Arts and Sciences and Journalism (News Editorial) from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications

More Bureau of Reclamation students