The system made it very difficult for departments to plan new initiatives. I wanted to be a part of the solution and felt I could contribute. It totally shifted them. I was so intrigued by the analytical approach I could take in that internship - to be able to think through a problem. As the MSO in Statistics, I made decisions on the fly.
Managers have to do that.
They generally don't have the time to evaluate the context and logic of all of their decisions. As an intern, I learned to step back and find out if I had all the appropriate information behind a problem. It was so satisfying that when a budget analyst position opened up in the College, I went for it. I learned to think about the political context of problems - who was being affected by a proposed solution and who was going to oppose it. I also learned a lot from my mentors about being a listener and a thoughtful manager.