撰稿人：APAPA TVC Intern Ben Ren

女士们和先生们，下午好。非常感谢你们能参加这次APAPA的实习生毕业典礼。我的名字是Ben Ren，我很高兴能成为APAPA实习生的一员。我很荣幸能够在Danville市长手下实习。先做一下简短的自我介绍吧。我出生在中国北京。七年前，我移民来了美国。在过去的几年里，我搬过很多次家，以至于我上过四所小学，两所初中，以及两所高中。这使我从来没对一个地方有过多的依赖性。

作为一个“愤青”，我尝试过许多事情。为了发现我真正的兴趣所在，我上过很多的AP课程。这其中包括生物学，计算机科学，欧洲历史，美国政府，微积分，宏观及微观经济学，统计学，甚至英语。除了学校的课程外，我还参加了很多的课外活动。我参加了我们高中的辩论俱乐部，模拟联合国俱乐部，以及机器人俱乐部，并在这些活动里取得了较好的成绩。不但如此，我还在一个会计师事务所实习了一段时间。因为我对政治有一些兴趣，所以我决定参加这次实习。


（上图为：Danvile Mayor Karen Stepper )

我很幸运能够成为Danville市长的实习生。我到现在还记得我跟她第一次见面的情况。当我和她在Danville图书馆谈完话以后，我发现我们其实有很多的共同点。然后，我的实习正式开始了。说实话，我一开始并不觉得我能学到太多的东西。毕竟，除了文件分类以外我还能做什么呢？当我收到我第一周的工作表时，我惊呆了。那上面列的全是我可以参加的活动。我从来都没想过我可以与一个市长一起参加活动。在这一个月的实习里，我参加了很多Danville市内的活动，比如当地Exchange Club和Rotary Club的聚会，以及七月十四号的车展，博物馆新展品开幕式，和一些市政会议等。此外，市长还带我参加了Danville市外的活动，比如State of the Tri-Valley，并且还参加了其他的大型会议等。从中，我深刻的了解到了市长的贡献及重要性。从她满满的日程表里，我看到了她对当地人们的关心与热爱。

作为一个在北京出生，旧金山长大的人来说，Tri-Valley这个地方真的很无聊。但是，这次实习使我看到了它不同的一面。我从来不知道Danville这么小的城市能有这么多不同的活动；我从来不知道在Hartz街上面有上百家小店；我也从来不知道这世界上能有这么为人民着想的市长和市政委员会。

我为我住的地方感到自豪。我突然间想要推广市内的一些活动。于是，我向博物馆馆长写了一封信，告诉他我自己对这个博物馆的看法，以及怎么样才能更好的推广它。我到现在还记得馆长的回复：“我很感谢你的建议，我已经把这篇报告读了几遍，并且还会读更多遍。我很高兴能够看到别人以不同的角度来给这个博物馆建议。“这让我觉得我的辛勤工作得到了回报。



我很感谢APAPA给我这次实习的机会。从中我学到了当地政府是如何运作的。并且，我还更好的了解了我居住的地方，以及如何能让它变得更好。最重要的是，我学会了怎么爱这里。


（ Assemblywoman Catherine Baker 为所有Intern 颁发证书 ）

附英文版如下：

Good afternoon everyone, thank you for being here today to make today’s APAPA intern graduation possible. My name is Ben Ren, and I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to intern with the mayor of Danville. Let’s start with something about myself before I talk about the internship. I was born in Beijing, China, and I immigrated to the US seven years ago. During my current lifespan, I’ve moved many times. I attended four elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 high schools. For that reason, I was not really attached to any place that I lived in.

As a growing young man, I tried to experience many things. I took many different AP classes such as biology, computer science, European history, US government, calculus, micro and macroeconomics, statistics, and even English. Outside of school, I had the opportunity to intern for a CPA firm for a short time. I joined my school’s forensics debate team for one year, Model United Nations for two years, and robotics team for one year. I’ve won several awards in my debate career, thus developed some interest in politics. That is why I decided to apply for this internship.

I was extremely fortunate that I worked for the mayor of Danville. I still remember the first day I met her and discovered how much similarities are shared between us. Then, my internship formally started. My expectations for the job is really low, because I imagined just working in her office and organizing papers. What else can I possibly to do to help? However, when I got my schedule for the first week, it really shocked me. It’s a list of events for me to attend. I’ve never imagined that I can attend events with a mayor together. During my one month of internship, I’ve been to local activities such as the car show at July 14, the Museum of San Ramon Valley exhibit openings, as well as local clubs such as the Danville Exchange Club, the Danville Rotary Club, and the San Ramon Valley Historic Society. She had also taken me to meetings outside of Danville, such as EBEDA and SF Business Times presents State of the Tri Valley, a meeting for the Contra Costa County Sanitary District, a meeting for the Tri-Valley Transportation Committee and many more. From those events, I learned more about the mayor. Her fully packed calendar really shows her love and devotion to the people of Danville.

As a person who grew up in Beijing and lived in San Francisco, I really felt like the Tri-Valley (as I jokingly call it, Tri-Village) is a boring place. However, this internship really changed my view. I never knew that there are so many things going on even in the small city of Danville; I never knew that there are over 100 private stores on Hartz Avenue within four blocks; and I never knew how amazing and devoted the mayor and the council members are to make Danville a better place.

Now I feel proud about the place I live in. I suddenly have the motive to advertise the local events to people here. They truly deserve to get more attention. With that thought in mind, I wrote a letter to the Museum of San Ramon Valley with suggestions on how to get it out of the current deficit. I still remember the response I got from the museum president Mr. Daniel Dunn, “Thank you for the comments and ideas. I read through your document several times will read it several more. It is always good to get another perspective on what the museum does or is doing.” I feel like my hard work is rewarded.

I am really thankful to APAPA for this internship experience. It gave me a good understanding on how the local government works. Also, I was able to learn about my local society and how to make it better. Most of all, it really made me to fall in love in the place I live in.