The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Philip H. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Take Action - Interview with Kendall Wingrove
Q. What responsibilities do you have as part of your job in Lansing?
I am the Deputy Director for the Senate majority of the State of Michigan. My job as deputy director of the Senate Majority Communications office is to be responsible for press releases, speeches, I give information to other media outlets, prepare and edit news articles, and compile information for different speeches or releases.
Q. What kind of training/education did you receive?
A. I attended Central Michigan University for my undergraduate degree in journalism and then went to Michigan State University for my masters degree in journalism. As far as experience goes, ever since high school I have been writing articles for papers. This experience, in addition to other opportunities that I had, was invaluable in shaping the type of journalist that I have become.
Q. What did you do before you came to Lansing?
A. Just 9 days after I graduated from college I had a position working in the Michigan House of Representatives, essentially, I have been in Lansing my whole career.
Q. What would you say is the hardest part about your job?
A. The hardest things to deal with in my job are its very slow pace and its difficult deadlines. Because of the structure of the government it takes a very long time for legislation to be crafted and passed through both houses and signed by the governor. Consequently, it can be very frustrating when there is a new law that is beneficial and should be passed that ends up taking a very long time to get through. Also, the deadlines in the job are sometimes very difficult to deal with. Most of the time the problem with deadlines isn’t because I cannot finish something in time, it is because of conflicts with other people’s schedules. Because there is so much to do people must prioritize what jobs they will do over others and that will affect the ability to meet my deadlines.
Q. How has being a Christian influenced you with regards to your job?
A. Being a Christian has taught me several things. First, because of the nature of the job it is easy to get very frustrated and impatient with how slows things move and how stubborn people can sometimes be. Through my career, God has taught me to be patient instead of frustrated with legislators or my circumstances. Second, being a Christian "gravitates" me towards other Christian legislators. By nature I am drawn to those with similar beliefs.
Q. What is one word of advice that you would give young people going into the political field?
A. "Get involved and be passionate" for what you are doing. Young people need to learn that they don’t have to wait until they get older to make a difference, the best thing that you can do is step up and get started doing what you want to do. It doesn’t make sense to put things off.
Q. How important is the role of the media in government?
A. The media plays a very important role in our nation due to their role as "watchdogs" for our legislators. What we do is inform the people as to what is going on with our lawmakers so that the constituents can know how their elected officials are doing in their role as legislators. One example of the media holds lawmakers accountable is how media attention was the main factor contributing to the arrest of the former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick. Without the attention and investigation done by the media, I don’t think that he would have been held responsible for his actions.
