When people think about “public service,” they often picture Washington, D.C., large agencies, formal institutions, and policy decisions that shape the country from the top down. I understand why D.C. is where many of the most visible levers of government sit. But being placed in Brookings, South Dakota has reinforced something I did not fully appreciate until I was living it day-to-day: meaningful public impact is not limited to federal buildings or official titles. It happens in communities like mine, through the relationships between local institutions, students, and mission-driven organizations that choose to invest in the places they call home.

My favorite part about being immersed in Brookings is my personal connection with the community. I see the same streets, the same campus, the same small businesses, and many of the same faces every week. That creates a different kind of accountability, one that feels less like “doing a job” and more like taking ownership over the future of a place. You don’t just want outcomes that look good on a report; you want outcomes that strengthen the community you are part of.

I should also be candid: my work is not “public service” in the traditional, formal sense. I’m not a government employee, and my day-to-day role isn’t inside a public agency. I’m at AeroFly, a growing company in Brookings that sits close to the intersection of engineering, workforce development, and regional opportunity. But the longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve realized that public service doesn’t mean you have to sit in a government office. It can be expressed through proximity, partnership, and purpose, especially when you work closely with public institutions and contribute to the public good in practical ways.

One of the most rewarding parts of being here is our close relationship with the public university nearby, South Dakota State University. That partnership is not just a logo on a slide; it’s real people, real students, and real opportunities. We offer students exposure they might not otherwise have, hands-on experiences, professional context, and a window into what it looks like to take technical work from concept to execution. For many students, that kind of access can be a turning point. It can be the difference between learning something in theory and seeing how it plays out in the real world, with real constraints and real stakes.

That matters in a community like Brookings. When opportunities are visible and local, they change what students believe is possible without leaving home. They also change how the university connects to industry and how students imagine their futures. There’s a public value in that, because workforce development, talent retention, and local career pathways directly shape the health of a region. In that sense, investing in students is also an investment into the community’s long-term capacity.

There’s also a broader ripple effect. Building a strong public-private relationship elevates economic activity. When a company chooses to grow in a smaller community and stay engaged with local partners, it helps create momentum: more collaboration, more skilled talent, more credibility, and more reasons for other organizations to invest in the area. That kind of growth is not just about jobs in a narrow sense; it’s about confidence. It’s about a community believing it can be a place where high-impact work happens.

And there’s something especially meaningful about watching that happen up close, because you can see the direct line between effort and outcome. You see students gain confidence. You see faculty and staff build new connections. You see the community’s perception of what’s possible expand, even incrementally. Those are not abstract metrics. They are lived experiences you can feel in conversations, in the energy around campus, and in the sense of pride people take in what Brookings is building.

This placement has also shifted how I think about where “national impact” really comes from. Big missions and big priorities don’t run on policy alone. They run on talent pipelines, research ecosystems, and local organizations that execute. Communities outside DC are not peripheral to national progress, they are foundational to it. Brookings is a clear example of that. When local industry and a public university work together, you are not just helping one student or one project, you are strengthening a system that can serve larger national needs over time.

Personally, being part of that in a place I’m connected to has been energizing and grounding. It’s motivating because it feels real. It’s also humbling, because you recognize how much responsibility comes with being trusted as a partner in a community. When you’re not just passing through, you think longer-term. You listen more carefully. You try harder to build things that last.

If there’s one lesson I would share from this experience, it’s that public service isn’t defined only by where you work, it’s defined by how you show up. In Brookings, I’ve seen how public good can be advanced through collaboration with public institutions, through investing in students, and through building a stronger local ecosystem that benefits everyone. That kind of impact may not always come with a formal label, but it is deeply aligned with what public service is meant to be: contributing to something larger than yourself, in a way that strengthens people and places.

I’m proud to be doing that work here, in Brookings, South Dakota, because it reminds me that service happens everywhere. It doesn’t require proximity to Washington. It requires commitment to community, and a willingness to build where you stand.