Tia McDonald

I attribute my success to the residents of Coppin Heights. I'm from West Baltimore, Maryland, and I love Baltimore City. Even though we face many issues, my love for Baltimore remains unwavering. I find joy in serving and helping others, especially when they feel unheard or confused. Helping others is a way of helping myself, and that's a lesson I value deeply on this journey called life.

The best career advice I received, or really that I learned on my own accord, is to stay open to grow. Stay open and learn different skills so that you can be presented with many more opportunities. When you're serving the general public, especially in government and public service, you have to stay open to learning new skills, different perspectives, and methods of supporting others. Embracing different perspectives can strengthen your confidence in handling diverse situations and serve the public more effectively.

I would give two statements for advice. The first statement is to be open-minded. When you are open-minded, it helps you see your role in creating a welcoming environment, making you feel important and connected. Embracing new perspectives can inspire hope and a sense of endless possibilities. Becoming open-minded will broaden your opportunities and your vision of what life is about. And two, stay active in your own community, because your community also needs services; they need committed people. They need examples of how to live, how to be, and how to stay positive as they grow into a successful lifestyle built on diverse experiences and encounters with their community. Become a walking example, or practice what you preach.

Right now, I work for Social Security within the federal government. The hardship I'm facing is finding opportunities to strengthen my skills while trying to continue to grow at my current agency. The federal government is kinda of closed off. Compared to my other experiences with local government, the federal government is closed off. The public rarely engages with any federal agency within an outreach community setting. Within the federal government, I don't see opportunities to engage the public or strengthen myself. The other hardship I see in the federal government is that, at one time, it offered stable employment, but now, given the current climate, job opportunities are unstable. If you're looking for stable work and the ability to engage the community while delivering services that have value in the people and the community engagement aspect, then you may want to rethink the federal government, because the federal government has not opened up that door to start going into the communities to add community engagement as a focal point for servicing. We're not in your community knocking on your door, asking you, do you know about retirement? The federal government needs to focus on improving engagement and education about our benefits and services, so we can work together to build stronger, more connected communities.

The values that I hold dear are, one, being authentic. Being honest with yourself will allow you to be honest with other people. Second, the value I hold essential is assisting the public. When you emphasize authenticity, it helps your audience feel respected and understood, fostering trust and openness. And then the third value, I would say, is commitment. When you are committed to your passion, when you're committed to the job duty you're doing, or at least back to your own personal values, then you will see that the work is a lot easier, and it will be more beneficial for those you're serving.