Overall, my experience so far as an intern for the National Collections Program of the Smithsonian Institution has been both a positive and an interesting one. I have enjoyed the work that I have been assigned, and the people that I get to work and collaborate with. What I have enjoyed the most about my internship experience so far is all of the different opportunities that are available to me because of working with both the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Institution. Since the beginning of my internship, my mentor Sam Snell has continually communicated to me all of the different conferences and people that I can connect with throughout the Smithsonian. Last week on October 4th and 5th I was a able to attend the National Conference on Cultural Property Protection, and learn more about the challenges that come with preserving and protecting cultural property. Next week on October 19th I will be attending the 2021 Safety and Cultural Heritage Summit where members of the project team I am working on will be giving a presentation. Attending both of these conferences have and will allow me to learn about different topics that I have not previously learned about.
One thing that I have started to do and would like to continue to do, is to utilize the connections that my mentor Sam has with individuals throughout various office and departments of the Smithsonian Institution to find out more about careers in my particular areas of interest. From the start of my internship, Sam has continually offered to introduce me to and put me in contact with any of her colleagues that I may be interested in meeting and discussing what their job entails. I recently took her up on the offer and let her know what type of individuals I would be interested in meeting in order to discuss what they do and how they got to their current positions. Once Sam provides me the information of the individuals she knows, I want to reach out and meet with these individuals to find out more about possible future careers for myself.
Throughout my internship so far, it has been reinforced that I do have a certain work style preferences. I prefer to have a set list of tasks that need to be completed by a certain time. For me, having a set lists of things that I want to accomplish helps me to focus and stay on track of my work. As someone with ADHD I have found that I need structure in order to be able to complete my work, and what has worked for me is to give myself a specific set of tasks that I need to complete in a certain amount of time. This practice, that I have used throughout my academic life, has continued to work well for me so far during my internship to ensure that I complete the work that is expected of me.
