This blog post was written by Sarah Mulkey, an intern in the Library’s Special Collections unit from the Department of History in Spring 2024.
From the beginning of this semester, I have changed drastically as a student and as a person. I feel like this semester has impacted me in a positive way. I believe as though my outlook on the internship as a whole has changed drastically. My outlook now is one of growth rather than what it was previously. Even though I am more than likely not going to be pursuing a career in library sciences now, I think it was critical to get that out of the way before I spent thousands of dollars to go to get my master’s and still have truly been unhappy in my position. I am so grateful for this internship to have opened my eyes early on. I am now going to be pivoting as anyone would do in my situation and going into education. Also, this internship has helped me be less scared about post-graduation life. I have been so scared of what post-graduation life looks like. This internship has been the first place where I feel like the workers all seem to be happy and love their jobs. It seems to me that each of them has their own projects, yes, but they all come together and talk, making the workplace feel a little more casual.
My favorite memories from this internship has been the day of the eclipse and the day that my work was officially published. For me the biggest reward from this internship has been being able to see my work have a real impact on the special collections database. I was able to work in three different collections this semester and being able to look at all of the different original pieces and pictures photographs, postcards and other memorabilia has given me such an interesting point of view of how special collections work or functions. On the day of the eclipse we went outside and and just enjoyed the eclipse for a few minutes before returning back to work. When you can be in an environment where you can have these memories while also accomplishing great things it really helps with not feeling so worried about post-grad life. I would recommend this position to anyone who is even slightly interested in library sciences, or any other field that would really love to see how the library functions our special collections functions and just have an environment where you can grow as an individual as well.
