Actually, my first priority was for the mission, collection and
audience of the museum to be apropos to my long-term career goals. Second
was that my project benefit the museum and their
audience long-term. Thankfully the museum had a longtime fund set up
and a portion of the accruing interest was such that it provided financial
assistance for several interns. That made the unique
alignment of my intern opportunity possible.
As a grad student I did not want the "multifaceted" intern
experience, rather I wanted to make manifest my specialty. Per the
internship application, I proposed a project. The project was heartily
agreed to by the Ed. Staff during the interview and on paper. We all
verbally understood my project would have had an immediate, profound and
long-term impact on all facets of education at the museum.
I overcame inherent challenges in working with a team of seven
educators since my project necessitated directional input from each. 2.5
weeks after my arrival the Curator of Education began shifting me off
my project to help pinch hit in other critical areas. At one point I
was shifted off my project for a month. There were several reasons this
happened most of which were understandable, yet frustrating. The
option of a day here or there doing this or that in the context of the
education program would have been reasonable, after all it was a
project-based internship.
The unavoidable end result on my project was the impossibility of its
completion, not for lack of late evenings, late nights and working
weekends. My goal for my internship was to complete my project because
it would have had great impact long-term for the museum but also it would
result in something tangible that embodied my vision and skill as a museum
educator.
I had everything positive that Brigid outlined and a bonus; my
expertise was an area new to the museum ed. team so I was able to educate
them! Per Lisa's train of thought, I had my wonderful tasting meat
grilled to perfection, but was sadly was not allowed to swallow or digest
it.
Kristen Ruck
Museum Educator
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 3:21
PM
Subject: Supervising Interns - The Other
Side of the Coin
There's been a hearty thread on this topic, directed
from
the perspective of the person
"hiring"/supervising the intern. It
begs the
question, however:
"What do interns want
during their experience?"
Obviously, the first answer is money, and the
second
is a job following the internship.
Absent those, what
else would you like to get from an
internship? Without naming names,
what are some of
the positives you've seen, and what might you
have
liked handled differently?
We've a lot of young people on list,
and I suspect
their answers could be informative for those
who
supervise.
Indigo Nights
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