What Is LINK?
LINK (Leading Internships for New Knowledge) is a 3-week internship that all juniors at Animas High School are required to do in the late spring semester of their junior year. Students are encouraged to get an internship doing something they believe they want to do when they graduate high school/college. Some will get an internship and at the end, realize it's not what they want to be doing for the rest of their life.
Before LINK, students are required to find a designated mentor for their field of choice that will be in charge of them for the 3 weeks. Mentors are also required to provide any assistance needed from interns for a project that you are to work on during and after your internship.
Where I Interned
I interned down in Canyon, Texas, at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. The PPHM is Texas' largest history museum containing nearly 4 million different artifacts. The museum was started by educator Hattie Anderson in 1920 when she moved to Canyon to teach history at the West Texas Normal College. She saw the town as a perfect opportunity to create a museum because of a growing city, college students preparing to be teachers, and many of the areas original settlers were still actively involved in ranching, farming, and business. In 1921, Hattie and several other teachers and students at the normal college formed the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society. After many years of hard work, asking for donations during the Great Depression, the museum opened its doors in 1933.
I have provided a link to the museum here! It's truly an amazing and unique experience, check it out!
Anticipation and Preperation
I created a list of contacts for places I wanted to go. My list consisted of places in New England and New Orleans, with PPHM as my safety. New England and New Orleans fell through because the people I would be staying with couldn't make the commute twice a day to take me to work. So I settled with going down to Canyon, Texas, where my grandpa could drive me twice a day instead. Thankfully, I never contacted my other potential mentors, so I never heard "no". I chose PPHM because I knew it was rich with so much history, I knew the size and I loved the idea of dealing with that many artifacts, and I went to the museum when I was little so there were memories that I hold in my heart within the walls. I hope to gain a lot of experience with being in charge of exhibits, planning events, and learning how to take care of artifacts. I hope to bring my light, integrity, and hard work to the museum. I hope to leave them satisfied with my work and determination, which I hope encouraged them to work harder and be proud of what they do.