{"id":31679,"date":"2019-09-04T10:51:27","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T14:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=31679"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:12:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:12:17","slug":"abby-boettcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=31679","title":{"rendered":"Shaping national issues on a local level"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wake County Commissioner internship featured in this story, along with four other APPLES Service-Learning summer internships with public officials, would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of Jesse White, Ph.D, retired director of the Office of Economic and Business Development at UNC-Chapel Hill. White underwrites these internships with the goal of enabling and encouraging more enterprising young people to pursue public service careers in government. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t really know what your county does,\u201d said UNC-CH junior and policy\/economics major Abby Boettcher. That was true for her \u2014 until this summer.<\/p>\n

Boettcher, a 2019 APPLES summer intern with Wake County Commissioner Matt Calabria, now knows that the county government\u2019s work is immense.<\/p>\n

A native of Cary, North Carolina, Boettcher spent her summer conducting policy research on a variety of issues, including increasing voter registration and reducing gun violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in a lot of topics on a national level,\u201d Boettcher said, \u201cAnd I\u2019m getting to see it all play out on a local level.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abby
Carolina junior Abby Boettcher at her 2019 APPLES Service-Learning summer internship with Wake County Commissioner Matt Calabria.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calabria said the county funds the sheriff\u2019s office, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and ambulance services, fire services, public libraries and one-third of the public education system \u2014 not to mention implementing virtually all federal and state human service program and managing land zoning, economic development and natural resources like the water supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a tremendous impact,\u201d Calabria said. \u201cWe\u2019re where the rubber meets the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boettcher said the biggest challenge of her internship was making sure her research findings were relevant to Wake County. In her research, she examined what policy approaches work best in other parts of the country, and she wrote proposals outlining how and why those policies would work for Wake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issues I\u2019ve worked on are really pressing to the county,\u201d she said. She looks forward to seeing the real-world results of her research.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Abby\u2019s been doing is going to fuel a lot of my work for months,\u201d Calabria said. \u201cIt\u2019s been very easy to trust Abby with serious issues, and I think she\u2019s responded in kind by producing high-level, thoughtful work. That will fuel policy outcomes in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abby
Carolina junior Abby Boettcher at her 2019 APPLES Service-Learning summer internship with Wake County Commissioner Matt Calabria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calabria, who grew up in Cornelius, North Carolina, said he loves working as a commissioner and finds that hosting APPLES interns is a meaningful part of his job.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dual purpose for me participating in this type of program is: first, to further my work in serving the community; and second, to give back to Carolina by providing what I hope will be a unique opportunity for students to see the inner workings of a large, sophisticated organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calabria served as student body president during his senior year at Carolina, and he said that experience was influential in his career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely loved being at Carolina,\u201d he said. \u201cCarolina, more than just about any university in the country, has a very strong public service bent. It\u2019s hard for me to imagine being at UNC-Chapel Hill and not having public service get under your skin in one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boettcher, for her part, said the internship was helpful as she builds a plan for her own career path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into this to find out whether I wanted to run for office or work on behind-the-scenes policy,\u201d Boettcher said.<\/p>\n

Her answer?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is exactly what I want to be doing,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter graduation I would love to work in D.C. for some time, probably with a policy nonprofit or a research group.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Post by Carolina Center for Public Service.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNC-CH junior and policy\/economics major Abby Boettcher was a 2019 APPLES summer intern with Wake County Commissioner Matt Calabria. A native of Cary, North Carolina, Boettcher spent her summer conducting policy research on a variety of issues, including increasing voter registration and reducing gun violence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":31680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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