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I'd prefer not to spend a lot of time harping on this particular topic
(I'm wondering how cash-strapped students who desperately need to cobble
together the income producing minutes of their days are able to expend
such copious amounts on time airing their injustices)

BUT

Why do you have to take off six months for a museum internship?

Why to you have to do an internship at an institution that is not
flexible enough to meet you half-way in determining a schedule?

Yes, many larger institutions do not permit this flexibility but have you
really "missed out on the opportunities" your friends had because you
could only work during the evenings or weekends or a few hours a week
spread over a longer period of time at a smaller institution that really
valued your help and didn't have 200 applications to weed through per
position?

Are you limited by your cramped schedule or by the idea that you have to
have that all-important institutional name on your resume?

And while some of your classmates may be parentally supplimented, they'll
have to face one lesson at graduation.  This is the 501(C)3 sector.
Welcome to the world of non-profit.  Don't even THINK about getting a
living wage after graduation and you might be pleasantly surprised.  If
you thought otherwise when you signed onto your MA program I suggest that
you entered this profession unprepared.

And yes, some people get all the good internships.  And yes, they might
make contacts that make looking  a job easier than someone who has to do
the Aviso mass-mail rountine.  They might also be pigeon-holed onto one
job, feel like a glorified secretary, or not really have any kind of real
responsibility.  They might also be smarter, prettier, and more
successful than you. But who ever said life was fair...evaluate your
situation and stop comparing yourself with others and you might find more
material to work with than you thought.

P.S. In many cases, if you work part-time or full-time for a university,
you receive a significant tuition reduction in addition to a meager
salary.

A former GW Museum Studies student who worked 40 hours a week, took five
classes a semester and held a 16 hour internship, and did not have a life
to speak of.  But who ever said I should have?

Now gainfully employed and happy.
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