This summer, three bright young minds – all of them Tucker residents – were selected to serve the City as summer interns. Nazeer, Sarah and Jack were tremendous assets, bringing a youthful inquisitiveness to the policies and procedures at City Hall. Here are their reflections on the Summer of 2021.
NAZEER FERGUSON
I started this internship with general knowledge about government and the inside workings of day-to-day governmental tasks. I have always had an interest in politics and a want to understand the legal side of Civil Engineering to get a well-rounded knowledge base. During the time of my internship, I found that assisting with municipal court has been the most hands on. From transferring documents and getting to know the operations of court, I truly enjoyed myself. My biggest accomplishment that’s still in the works is coming up with a new Planning and Zoning ordinance for the City. This was a difficult and challenging task, but I overcame the obstacles and found a solution by gathering information from neighboring cities and states to accumulate a draft of Tucker’s new policy. The Carbon Reduction Challenge has also been a great venture. Being able to implement a progressive and helpful way for the future really impacts a town even in the beginning stages.
SARAH PENKAVA
Interning for the City of Tucker has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I have been afforded the unique opportunity to work with each of the departments within City Hall and Parks and Recreation, and have learned invaluable information and skills that I likely would not have gained elsewhere. I consider some of my biggest accomplishments this summer to be becoming proficient in the areas of City Hall that most interested me. I particularly enjoyed watching full processes play out, as I did in my time with Maricela, Tucker’s Code Enforcement Manager. I visited code violation sites with her and then had the chance to watch some of these code violations play out in court. I have great interest in law and policy, and she catered this experience toward my interests. So did Courtney in Planning and Zoning, who helped me write code and learn more about Tucker’s policies. I also took part in the Georgia Tech Carbon Reduction Challenge along with the other interns wherein I worked with local schools and parks to bring our proposed composting initiative to fruition. I am grateful to have had these experiences and learned so much in my time at City Hall this summer!
JACK SMITH
This summer, I was involved on a lot of fun and exciting projects. From designing sidewalks to presenting in front of the City Council, I got to do it all. My most exciting project had to be my work on renovating MARTA bus stops all over the City. The project involved multiple days of being out in the community and deciding which stops were most in need of an update. Through this process, I was able to meet many new people, and get a better understanding of the how these improvements would greatly benefit those who use these stops daily. As a resident of Tucker, it was an honor to get to work on so many projects just like this one. I greatly enjoyed getting to know my hometown better than I did before, and to know that my contributions would help make a real impact on the community and City that I call home.
