Students Speak: The Internship Experience
Breaden Belcher, Class of 2017:
One of the great things about the Historical Administration and Public History program at FSU is the hands on experience you gain both in the classroom, and through an internship! And there are a lot of great museums in Tallahassee to choose from! My internship was at Mission San Luis, a living history museum in Tallahassee that highlights the 17th century Spanish mission that was located here, and the community that was created between the Spanish settlers and the Apalachee Native Americans. I gained invaluable experience as a living history interpreter and docent, and learned a lot about museum education. I also had the opportunity to develop a participatory visitor guide as part of my internship project.
One of the great things about the Historical Administration and Public History program at FSU is the hands on experience you gain both in the classroom, and through an internship! And there are a lot of great museums in Tallahassee to choose from! My internship was at Mission San Luis, a living history museum in Tallahassee that highlights the 17th century Spanish mission that was located here, and the community that was created between the Spanish settlers and the Apalachee Native Americans. I gained invaluable experience as a living history interpreter and docent, and learned a lot about museum education. I also had the opportunity to develop a participatory visitor guide as part of my internship project.
Matthew Storey, Class of 2017:
I served my internship at the State Archives of Florida, working full time. I think that it was a fantastic experience, and I am sure it will prove to be invaluable when the time comes to find a public history oriented job! They included me in a lot of what was going on at the archives, and for that I am very thankful; I never felt like I had "busy work" as an intern. I learned a lot about how a government archive works; a lot more effort goes into collecting and preserving the records than I would have ever thought. I also had to learn about the materials I was working with, so there was a lot of research to be done. Figuring out what a given collection meant – who created it, what they used it for, and how they used it – was almost like solving a puzzle; a challenge, but very rewarding too. I was also involved with outreach activities, by no means was I shut away back in the stacks. I found the internship perhaps the most exciting when I could interact with patrons; it is your duty to share when you work with history.
I served my internship at the State Archives of Florida, working full time. I think that it was a fantastic experience, and I am sure it will prove to be invaluable when the time comes to find a public history oriented job! They included me in a lot of what was going on at the archives, and for that I am very thankful; I never felt like I had "busy work" as an intern. I learned a lot about how a government archive works; a lot more effort goes into collecting and preserving the records than I would have ever thought. I also had to learn about the materials I was working with, so there was a lot of research to be done. Figuring out what a given collection meant – who created it, what they used it for, and how they used it – was almost like solving a puzzle; a challenge, but very rewarding too. I was also involved with outreach activities, by no means was I shut away back in the stacks. I found the internship perhaps the most exciting when I could interact with patrons; it is your duty to share when you work with history.