Reflections

Well, we’ve finally made it. This is my last blog post because I have officially completed my internship at the Irving Archives and Museum!

Back in March, I was terrified that I wasn’t going to find an internship this summer. I was receiving email after email from places I applied to saying that they were canceling their internship programs. Of course, though, IAM would swoop in and save the day by offering me a position that exactly catered to my needs! It’s crazy how life works itself out sometimes.

Anyways, this week I spent my time wrapping up bits and pieces of my projects, as well as adding a DIY Train project to my field trip substitutions! Also, the Spark!Lab video that went up last Saturday has over 250 views on Facebook, which is fairly good for a small-scale museum that only opened this year. Our second Spark!Lab video went up yesterday. Here’s the link to the Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/iamirvingtx/videos/1157252654651963/

The most exciting thing that happened this week was that Clare, the Education Director, returned from furlough on Tuesday. We only had four days together, but I definitely had the time to ask her for career advice and get her feedback on my projects. We are also going to keep in contact so that she can let me know how my programming goes once they implement it in the fall. Obviously, the timing wasn’t perfect, but I am glad that Clare came back before I left, and we had the chance to meet.

As I have been reflecting on this past summer, I have also taken a look back at my internship last year at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. IAM was not as fun or exciting as FWMSH due to the pandemic, but it offered me many more opportunities to innovate. With Clare being gone all summer, I was the only person working on educational programming, which is a lot of responsibility. In addition, since our museum only opened this year, I was finding ways to make our programs virtual when they hadn’t even really been in-person. The opportunity to trailblaze in a situation like this doesn’t come around often. I’ve said this so many times, but I am so grateful to the staff at IAM for taking a chance and letting me be a part of their team during COVID-19.

Overall, I’ve learned so much during my time at IAM, and am grateful for the time I spent there. Here’s to making the most out of a sticky situation!