Anthony Nissen

Background

About Anthony Nissen

Once I graduated high school, I knew that whatever career I ended up going into, I wanted it to be a career that helps people and the most amount of people. The world is full of chaos and hardship, but with the few things we can control, I decided I could control how much I help my fellow humans. This indicates that most of my first jobs were in retail. At Target, Burlington, and Holiday, I helped people find their needed products and gave them a quality customer service experience. However, once I started to think about a career more seriously, I realized that I liked helping people in my community and wanted my community of West St. Paul to thrive or any community I may be a part of. Communities are essential to how we function as a society; a strong community can lead to unimaginable social and individual benefits. As a Sociology major, I learned the specific benefits of such comradery. Still, it also gave me the tools to analyze how these communities impact broader society and, ultimately, how they shape the cultures of our country. So, when trying to find a career fit that can help with my goals of helping people, helping as many people as possible, and being able to be a part of or help create a strong sense of community where I live, that left me with a clear choice, state and local government. Not only do I bring in personal knowledge of government functions, processes, and bureaucracy due to my interests in politics and minor in public policy. My family has seen the benefits of government work; after my mother lost her job at the University of Minnesota, we faced a real financial struggle. However, she maintained her secondary job at the VA (Veterans Affairs), and our lives improved once she secured a full-time position at the VA. She got us on a great insurance plan and retained her seniority from her time at UofM, and it was crucial for us to own the house where we still live today. This ultimately shaped and changed how I viewed the government, and now that I see how it can help families like mine, I want to make sure that other American families can get their help as well.