LINK REFLECTION
I had pre-existing skills that helped me coming into my internship. I was already a very hard, determined worker and a very good listener. Those skills made training easy on not only me but my mentors as well. I am also a quick learner, which made it easy to navigate the museum and perform tasks after being told and taught what to do. I got a quick walk-through of the museum, and by the end of the day, I could walk through without any issues. The most important skills I developed more added on to the pre-existing skills I already had. I became a harder worker than I was before and I had the ability to prove my abilities, which encouraged me to work even harder. I also learned how to be better at taking initiative and making sure things get done. I did not think I could read and write about all those letters by the time the week was over, but I stepped up my game and got it done by taking initiative and pushing myself to work harder and faster.
I didn't have any challenges, I just learned a lot more than I thought I would. The amount that I learned did not overwhelm me, it actually drove me to learn more. I had a lot of fun, so if there were challenges, they did not make themselves known. I had some tough experiences, but I wouldn't call them challenges because they were easily fixed. My camera quit on me and I lost my interviews from the first week, but I rescheduled replacement interviews that ended up being better than the first ones! I also got trapped in the massive dark basement, but I got out. Those problems I had pushed me to keep going. For the lost footage, I pushed hard to get new, better interviews. When it came to getting trapped, I pushed hard to find my way out and use some problem-solving skills.
Working at PPHM, I learned a lot about how important history really is. Especially in the panhandle plains. I realized that when most visit the plains, they see nothing but fields and don't see the importance. But the stories in the panhandle are oh so important. When people visit the museum, they will dive into the rich history of the panhandle plains. From Charles Goodnight opening up JA Ranch to rescue buffalo, mysterious murders, the history of petroleum, art from Georgia O'Keefe, the discovery of an Allosaurus in the Palo Duro Canyon, World Wars, the battle of Adobe Walls, Quanah Parker, the native tribes and the ways they lived, and a once standing infamous Harvey House in the heart of Amarillo. The importance of history is something I have fought for, so being able to bring my fire for history and teaching the public about everything really drove me to work my hardest and prove to not only my mentors but the entire museum that I care about history and will work to keep it alive. I think they saw my fire on the first day.
I hope my fire encouraged my mentors to take on more interns like myself from high school since they usually only take student interns from the college. My mentors got to see first hand how the real world experience on a high schooler affects their personality and decisions. Not only was it healthy for myself to be around my mentors, but it was good on my mentors to have me around. They had someone to talk to, to help them, someone who brought some light and passion into the office.
Working at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum really helped me figure out if that's really what I want to do with my life. I liked what I was doing a lot, but what I was doing doesn't happen every day. A lot of work is spent sitting down and working on the computer, but I have a hard time with that. I need to be moving and working hands-on with different things. I definitely want to do museum work, but I now know I would like to have something more hands-on on the side. I will for sure go to college for history but have decided to minor in Agriculture or Environmental Studies, jobs that are more hands-on and require me to be outside more often than most.