Along with all the fun you can have in college, it is a given that students come here to PSU to further their ambitions and get on a path to a promising career. There are numerous ways to make your own path to that career available here at PSU. This column will investigate some of these stepping stones to give you a jump start.
Personally, my latest jump start totally fell into my lap. Last spring, I decided last minute to look around for an internship to keep me busy for the summer and give me some practical experience. I’m hoping to get into museum work, restoration or preservation, so I decided to check out museums in Boston, New York and D.C. During my search, I ran into many other offers in other states, but I ignored them, thinking they were too far to travel.
During this time, I was listening to a lot of Cajun and zydeco music, and as I was clicking along to the tune of “Zydecoco” by Big Al and the Heavyweights, I stumbled upon a listing for the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. I was intrigued – though I didn’t really think that it was a real option.
I emailed the director of collections, just to see if they were really looking for interns. The email I got back startled me. Basically, they said “Yeah, when can you come and how long can you stay?”
Before I knew it, I was on a plane to The Big Easy. It was spectacular. Not only did I get a chance to spend some time in a unique cultural center, but I was working directly with artifacts, which is a difficult position to get if you are an undergrad. It seems to be understandably hard for museums to entrust precious historic objects to the hands of inexperienced undergrads.
It turns out, the Louisiana State Museum was in the process of relocating the artifacts that were moved to Baton Rouge during Hurricane Katrina back to the Old U.S. Mint in New Orleans. The roof of the Mint had been seriously damaged during the hurricane, and it had been shut down for a long time.
Even more exciting, the majority of the work I was doing was in what was called the Jazz Tower. This is a staff-only part of the Mint that houses the LSM’s record collection and instruments. I, along with a few other interns, began working on reorganizing the records to be easily found.
The records had been stored in cardboard boxes in all-but-random order. Not only were the records not organized, but the cardboard boxes were not safe for the records due to their acidity level and age. The reorganization required us to dust every record, of which there were thousands, sponge the album covers, and put sleeves on those that needed them. They were then placed into archival boxes in either alphabetical or numerical order.
Seeing and handling all these albums, many by famous artists, and some of which were original studio recordings, was an unforgettable experience. Not to mention the tours of the museum storehouses. I learned that, at least for me, behind-the-scenes museum facilities are the place to be. I was inches from Louis Armstrong’s first cornet, hundreds of historical outfits, old dolls and more.
This experience confirmed my belief that museum work would be an excellent choice of work for me. It could easily have gone the other way. The work was repetitive, but for me, rarely tedious. Handling these pieces of history was a thrill. Yet, if I had gone to find that the tedium of wiping record after record was unbearably dull, it would have turned me on to a different track in regards to career. It is often true that you never know how you will like something until you try it. I have found that true, and no more true than in career choice. I highly recommend an internship experience to everyone.
Find your own twists on the suggestions offered in this column, and check issues to come for more handy hints on potential jump starts.