Week 4 blog

The First Week

My first week at the Sanford museum was fantastic. Before the internship, I was a little scared at starting a new chapter of my academic career. I began to overthink and assume that I would maybe not be ready or fit for the position. After two days I feel confident in my position and am happy that Sanford Museum was where I ended up. The environment is very fun and laid back, but it still focuses on research and the importance of preserving Sanford's records. The staff at the Sanford Museum is amazing, they have all been welcoming and allowed me to feel comfortable at all times while still pushing me to succeed. 

Initial Welcoming and Orientation    

During my first day, I was given a lot of information about the system of the museum itself. Karen Jacobs was a fantastic helper on my first day. She helped me relax and learn how to properly greet the guests and explain the layout of the museum. Since Karen is retiring at the end of June, she explained in depth all of the projects she has been working on as well as her unfinished projects that she needs help on. The first day was an information dump. I was tasked to read up on Henry Sanford and Sanford's black community. I learned a lot of valuable info on Sanford's past and how it had to adapted its economy away from farming because of the freezes. My first day was scary but by the end I felt happy and ready to take on my time at the Sanford Museum. 

Day Two

My second day was a little more calm than the first. When I first came in, I vacuumed the floors and swept the exterior of the building. Normally, Karen does this but it was her day off so I assumed the responsibility. Even though it was something basic and small that I also do at home, I felt fulfilled cleaning a public place for others to enjoy. After I lightly cleaned the museum I then started to sit at the front desk ready to greet guests as well as reading more Sanford books to enhance my knowledge. One guest came in that needed some information on some old building by Seminole avenue.  With some help from the curator, we were able to provide her with some information about the building and an old ball that she had wanted to see pictures of. Seeing the lady happy with the results made me very happy. It may sometimes be difficult to find older things that may not be easily accessible online, so to find it and have her be able to take pictures and share it with others is something amazing. a mom with her two kids also came in asking about a treasure hunt. Luckily Karen told me about it the day before so I was aware of it. The kids completed the treasure hunt at the Sanford Museum and i have them their reward as well as some candy for their good behavior. Day two had some eventful moments. I look forward to more!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introductory blog

About Me Hello everyone, my name is Diego and I will be working with the Sanford Museum this summer. I will be doing a more concentrated internship. The length of the internship will be from early June until mid to late July. Although it will be shorter than the average internship, I will be working very hard to get as much experience and learn as many skills as possible. I am a Cuban immigrant who has always been interested in general culture and how history has shaped it throughout different societies. I arrived to the United States in 2008 when I was 6 years old. Since then I have always been driven to better educate myself about society and its cultural makeup. This drive took me to history and ever since then I have been invested in learning it and using it for good.  Research Interests  When discussing the topic of research interests, I tend to lean more into studying industries that seem to not be influencing society as much as they lead on. Some examples of this can be the musi
Read more

Week 5 Blog

 Maintaining the pace  This second week of my time at the Sanford Museum has been relatively similar to last week. Maintaining the pace has been the most important thing for me as I sometimes tend to either go too fast on something and miss details, or go too slow because I am worried about covering every detail. I have done a pretty good job at maintaining a consistent pace when digitizing the Sanford directories as well as helping with some other projects when called on. I have around 7 pages to digitize and I have gotten through 2. Although I am going slower than I would like, my curator and other employees have reassured me that it takes time and their main concern is that it gets done with accuracy and in a clear manner.   Customer Service Since I am at the front desk I deal with plenty of guests who have questions or are interested in buying some Sanford Museum merchandise. On Friday we had a few people who were interested in buying some T-Shirts and other museum items. There is
Read more

Week 3 Blog

 Final setups While waiting for my work with the Sanford museum to start, I began to do the final setups for it. One of these setups was getting some more clothing that was appropriate. I asked about the dress code and was told that it is business casual. In response to this I bought some shirts and golf shorts that fit the criteria of the museum’s dress code.  Planning out my schedule  As well as obtaining the correct clothing, I coordinated my schedule at the Sanford museum this week. I plan on doing six hours on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This will work with my job schedule as well as give me time to complete the weekly blogs. The schedule also allows for enough time throughout the week to enjoy my summer and spend time with my family and friends. This was a big concern of mine before planning my schedule but, thankfully, everything turned out great and I will be able to have a balanced summer full of new adventures in my career path and with family. As I have stated before, I
Read more