Concessions, IT, and Budget Oh My!

Booklet of The Centennial Programs

                Week four of my internship was spent with administration, learning about everything that each person does in a normal work week. I had more information come my way than I had in my first week of college. Every day I was with someone new learning about what their job was and how they accomplished their task for the week. With such a small department most people have more than one responsibility and that just made my task of trying to learn even more difficult.

The Boat Ride Over

                I spent my first day with our budget guy learning about the software and how to add and manage transactions on the parks credit cards. The park has a very strict budget and most of the day was spent making sure all of the divisions are within budget and are not looking like they will be low on money for the remainder of the year. The second day there was an emergency trip to Sagamore hill with the IT guy in an attempt to fix the phone system and some of the computers which would not allow anyone to log on. We then drove back to Fire Island National Seashore (FIIS) and worked on some of the computers there along with a copier. Day three was spent doing concessions and learning about the other side of the intricate permitted driving allowed on the island. The morning was spent at a meeting with different officials from the communities on the island and also Suffolk county PD and the Superintendent and chief ranger from FIIS. This was an interesting meeting and really allowed me to see what the communities’ biggest concerns were. In the afternoon we took a trip out to sailor’s haven to visit with owner of the concession company to talk about the next ten-year plan. My fourth day was with the chief of administration which was a day filled with many different roles and left my head hurting. We went over housing, special projects, payroll, and many other things in just eight hours. The chief also has to keep an eye on everyone in his department on top of doing all of these jobs. We also went over what the park was doing in honor of the centennial this year. The final day with admin was spent at the all employee meeting learning about all the different divisions…learning more about all of the different divisions. This was a lot to take in over the course of one week and I am lucky to have another week with them to continue learning.

                Week 5 is with interpretation; after this week I will be hallway done with my internship.