Young Ambassadors 2019 Internship Blog

Hello my lovely friends, Last week was another jam-packed week at the science center, which I've learned is just the way things are here. Everyone is always on the move, and there is always so much more to see and do. During my time last week, there were a few new things I got to see and do, and I am ready to tell you all about it. After the Apollo 11 event, there was a lot of cleaning up and the tying-up of loose ends to deal with, so the beginning of the week was a little bit slower than usual, but after Monday and Tuesday, things picked up to their typical speed. For the remainder of the week, I was running alongside the teen interns to shadow their stations, the majority of which I have done plenty of times in the past few weeks. At some point, however, I was scheduled to shadow someone at the Brain Cart, which is where we learn about the brain. A sheep brain, half a human brain, and a Mr. Potato Head   from the California Science Center's Brain Cart At the Bra...

Hola! It’s been great getting to read all of your blogs. So far this internship has helped me get outside of my comfort zone and that’s a really good thing! I’ve definitely gotten much more comfortable with driving on the highway. Even though driving in Chicago can be a little hectic, it’s been an adventure. This past week was by far one of the most memorable weeks of my life. As I mentioned in my last blog, I was to interview Ellen Ochoa this past week. Let me just say it was remarkable! On Mondays, we have career exploration days. This past Monday we switched things up from our traditional Mondays and stayed inside the Adler as opposed to the Doane Observatory. Another group of teenagers who are in a summer program outside of the Adler’s joined us. We had an opportunity to get to know the group that joined us and talk to four guest speakers. Shortly after this, I interviewed Ellen Ochoa! We had set up the interview for 1:30 PM and let me just tell you, I was SO nervous. Ever...

Week 3 This week has truly been something else. Not that it’s gone bad, but the transportation journey sure has. I know I keep talking about transportation but it’s nearly half of my day!  Just the past Saturday before starting the week, a young girl was kidnapped at the Union Station where I get on and off every day. It’s been sort of intimidating to get to the museum since then. Now that that’s out of the way, the actual internship component went GREAT!!! I even got to see the Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker at our museum. The weekly schedule stayed the same so Don Miguel was back with the shadow story-telling project. They had to finalize their stories so that they could present on Wednesday. Students continued to work on backgrounds/settings, characters, and other props. I did the neck and head on this one Haha. In the Afternoon Ms.Gabby started another mask-making project that was now focused on jaguars. Before they started Ms.Gabby brought an art game where...

Familia: RICKY RENUNCIÓ!  It happened on Thursday but the entire week was slow while we waited for him to do so. The University of Puerto Rico (where the museum I’m interning is at) is a state-owned institution, and one that is notorious for taking extreme political stances and constantly being on strike. This week, while the university didn’t entirely cease to function, they did give all employees a week of “vacation.” This meant that the museum was closed, and the only people who went the entire week were me, my supervisor, and the museum director.  Monday, there was a national strike. I don’t think anyone was at the museum that day. Most, if not everyone, was out on the streets protesting. It was such an amazing and surreal feeling to be here during such a huge, historic, peaceful protest. It was the largest in the island’s history and an inspiring sight to see.  Tuesday, Thursday*, and Friday the museum remained closed so I assisted my supervisor with any...

Dear YAP Familia, In my third week, I continued with my exhibit project and traveled again to offsite to help out with inventory. This week was very different from last week however. I started working with cataloging photographs in the archives, and got the opportunity to participate in the community outreach project on Friday. After my third week, I was able to understand more the power of different expressions of art. On Tuesday, I headed to offsite and helped my supervisor pull up some objects. The museum was doing a one week exhibition about Orlando’s sister city, Urayasu City. One of the things we pulled was very interesting, it was like an oriental American Girl doll. So not only did I learn that Orlando had a twin city but also that many schools in Orlando had participated in a doll exchange program with schools in Urayasu City. In addition, I cataloged from a weird clown toy to candy boxes. Some of the things, such as the tobacco canisters, were very r...

At Tigeorges, listening to the owner talk about his experience in Little Haiti The museum is closed Mondays, so this week started off with an off-site program touring two neighborhoods, Little Haiti and Little Havana. In a final section of the museum’s permanent exhibit, Gateways, we talk a lot about Cuban and Haitian immigration to Miami, detailing the similarities between the two groups when it comes to the political situation at home and the main push factors, and the differences in how Cubans and Haitians were treated in the U.S.. Since this is something we discuss often on tours, it was really interesting to get to go to these communities and experience these cultures first hand. In Little Haiti, we visited the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, a community center and market place that works to uplift local businesses and provide classes and free programs for the community. At Tigeorges Kafé, located inside the Caribbean marketplace, I discovered this amazing Scotch Bonnet peanut ...