Today, on the Metro, I remember thinking one thing: I can't believe that we are already 1/3 done with our internships! Though there are some hours in our days that feel incredibly long (Hannah and I agreed that the hour between 2:00 and 3:00 is the hardest; all we want to do is take an afternoon nap), the days and weeks themselves seem to be going by very quickly. A new intern was introduced into our office today and asked us how long we had been there, and we exchanged looks of shock when we realized that it had been a week already! Without realizing it, we became experienced pros. Right?
Maybe not so much. One thing that I really love about this internship is that I keep having new chances to try different things. My project is largely self-planned and self-executed, which means that I am constantly developing new skills: brainstorming, researching, email writing, interview conducting, sound editing, transcript typing, editing, and storytelling are a few of the new tasks I've taken on in the last seven days. All in all, I feel like I'm learning how to think like a curator, which is something that I never thought I'd have the chance to do. It's been interesting especially for me to think about creating an effective story for an audience as that pertains to a museum curator. As an English major, of course I am always thinking about audience and purpose. However, this internship is also giving me a chance to think more carefully about how pictures, visuals, and audio fit into this relationship. I never thought I'd admit it, but sometimes words are not the best ways to communicate abstract or complicated ideas.
Another thing that I am enjoying about this internship? The great people that we are meeting around the office. The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage has more interns than many of the other sites, and frequent introductory tours mean that we often get the opportunity to meet these interns and invite them to eat lunch with us. Today there were six of us from all over the office sitting around the round table situated behind Hannah's desk, telling jokes and sampling Canadian chocolates that someone had brought into the office. I've also had the chance to meet other wonderfully friendly Smithsonian employees from other offices who are just hanging around, or who eat lunch with Folklife employees. Ultimately, I've been pleasantly surprised with how welcoming and enriching this experience has been.
It's been a lot of fun, too; but that's another blog post. :)
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