Young Ambassadors 2019 Internship Blog

Hello everyone!  I hope this blog post finds you well. My last week at the Atlanta History Center was bittersweet. After finally becoming adjusted to my long commute to my internship location, I was very sad to end it because I enjoyed working with my supervisor. My route consisted of a car, bus, and train to get to my internship location. It took about two hours each way, I was able to knock out a lot of podcast episodes and read a little bit.  The Atlanta History Center is spread between two campuses, Buckhead and Midtown. I interned in Buckhead and visited the Midtown campus (Margaret Mitchell House, author of  Gone with the Wind) on my last day. I spent my last week working on the Hidden Midtown: Out and About walking tour. This free walking tour will be launched in October and everyone will be able to learn about the rich LGBTQIA+ history of Midtown. Throughout my research online and in the Kenan Research Center, I learned the comprehensive LGBTQ+ history of...

Hello YAP Familia, Well, the end of the internship has sadly come to an end. This last week was filled with fun activities and sad goodbyes. The campers got to make a human periodic table, sing and dance to the Periodic Table of Elements song and making experiments that showed the reaction that made certain elements in the (once again) Periodic Table. I loved watching the expression on the campers' face whenever they understood the concept of the materials they were taught. On the last day camp, we had a small party in one of the classrooms and everyone, including staff and administrators had so much fun. It was kind of bittersweet spending such a good time with everyone but thinking that it was going to be the last day I will see them in a long time. Here are some pictures of our little party Recapping these past four weeks, I am so grateful for the opportunity Ford, the Smithsonian Latino Center and everyone involved in the making of The Young Ambassadors Pro...

Hi y'all, The last week of my internship at the Arizona State University Art Museum was a slow one, but it left me feeling. I spent much of the week simply gathering up all the digital documents I had been putting research on for pieces of art that were going to be hung up and the artists that made them. Throughout my time at the museum, one of the exhibits entitled "Talking to Action - Art, Pedagogy, and Activism in the Americas" has been up. It was by far my favorite exhibit in the museum, describing the plight of Latinx populations throughout Central and Southern America, from labor protests in Mexico City, Mexico to police brutality in Sao Paulo, Brazil, I learned much about the history of Latinx activism. In a fitting way, my last week also happened to be the week that the exhibit ended and was scheduled to be packed up in preparation for shipping to the next location on its display tour. Area where a piece about the gentrification of Latinx communities in ...

Hola amigos! Last week was my final week at the California Science Center, and it was hectic. The week started off with me getting really sick and having to leave home halfway through the day, and I thought it might have been a bad omen for what was going to come my way that week. Fortunately, things looked up after that Monday, and my last week was truly amazing. A lot of my week was spent in the office where I finished up the last of my tasks while training another volunteer on how to do the data entry. This kept me busy up until Wednesday, but once I was finished,  it opened up plenty of time for me to experience the last few things on my science center bucket list, which was long with activities I hadn’t had a chance to check out yet. The first thing on this list was to go on the flight simulator in the science center’s Creative World exhibit. I love rollercoasters, and the feeling of twisting and turning around in a little box sounded like a lot of fun for me. On this fl...

Friday wrapped up my last week interning at the Talento Bilingue de Houston. This week, I used my training from Washington Week again, although in slightly unexpected ways. Our dance instructor came down with a cold on Tuesday, which meant we had 18 kids with nothing to do for an hour and a half. Luckily, the center had a collection of instruments. I handed out the instruments to the class, and we partook in drumming circles similar to one YAP Ambassadors did with the awesome Kofi. Finally, we ended the week with a murals tour. Houston will once again host a mural festival which makes it time-sensitive to see the ones that are up now. We visited several different sites, and stopped to take many adorable pictures. However, what really struck was the familiarity most of the kids had with the neighborhood we were visiting. While the kids couldn't answer the historical questions the tour guide posed, the pointed out to me where they lived, where they bought groceries or hang out. ...

My final week at HistoryMiami was undoubtedly the best week yet. The week began with a trip to the Wolfsonian in Miami Beach, another local museum that focuses on the period from 1850-1950. We learned about the cultural influences that informed the Art Deco movement and how it spread into popular culture. I’ve always loved the Art Deco buildings that make the Beach so architecturally unique but I’d never had the chance to learn about the history behind them. As I prepare to move away for college, it feels really special to still be learning new things about a place I thought I knew so well.  The Miami-Dade County high school interns Alexis, Khloe, and Emily and I at the Wolfsonian  I also started touring this week! After weeks of researching and presenting my tour to the other interns, it was so fulfilling to finally have an audience to talk to. My first audience was a group of half a dozen kids, roughly between the ages of 5-8. Once I realized that my tour as I ha...

This internship went by so fast and it’s hard to believe it’s over! My last week at the Adler Planetarium hit me with bittersweetness. I was ecstatic to go into my last week and enjoy every bit of it, but this would also be my last week. My driving also improved (seriously, driving in a city can be stressful). With that being said, I grew as a person, learned about myself, and I’m really proud of everything I did outside of my comfort zone! The Adler will always have a special place in my heart.  During our usual Mondays we focus on career exploration. This past Monday, though, was a “free day” meaning the other teen interns and I could go explore around Museum Campus (this holds five of Chicago’s museums/attractions). So we all agreed to spend time at the Shedd Aquarium. After lunch break we headed over to the Doane Observatory to work on our Community Bash event. I, along with three others, were in charge of event productions. We worked on figuring out the last minute logist...

Dear YAP Familia, As I finished my fourth and final week of my internship and finished my internship, I looked back to four weeks ago when I walked in to the research center and saw a group of complete strangers I would work for four weeks. As the weeks passed, these strangers would become not only coworkers but also a group of people I could depend on  in the future if I find myself in need of a helping hand . My coworkers made me feel these four weeks as four seconds. Even though I was away from my home, I was able to connect not only with my coworkers but also family members I had not seen for years. As time would go by, I would both grow professionally and have a new life experience in the United States. When I started this internship, I began with the citrus label inventory project, and as a finished this project I would proceed to work on the other inventory projects,  the aerial file negative cabinet and photographic file cabinet, using both Excel and Past Perfec...

Hey y'all, The third week of this internship was definitely very exciting and was by far my favorite. Our museum has been working on a shared community education space/workshop area that will be open to the public as of September. This includes brand new furniture being brought in, small decor details like the bookshelf I had to organize by color, and two murals commissioned by San Antonio-based artist Cruz Ortiz. One of my tasks for the week was to research Mr. Ortiz and look into the background motivation and theme that his art takes on. I thoroughly enjoyed doing so mostly because, much to my surprise, his art is extremely political and is so in a manner that expresses the thoughts of the Latinx community in the form of art. He's done campaign art for the Obama campaign back in 2008, Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, and is currently working for former San Antonio Mayor/current Democratic Presidental Candidate Julian Castro.  Mural installed by Cruz Ortiz My supe...

Final week done! This week was a gratifying conclusion to my time at Arte Américas. I staffed my last Plaza Night and ArtHop, and continued the administrative work that helps keep Arte in its best shape. I was also able to do my community outreach at the Fresno County Library - hosting an interactive storytime with kids! Me posing at Arte's Cumbiatron Plaza Night event as an intern. This week was a surreal but satisfying end to my time here. In my four weeks, I have grown to become heavily involved in the events at Arte, organizing meetings between community members and Arte staff, as well as taking on more of the roles of my supervisor, Operations employee Silvina Hernandez. I felt needed, and empowered to make suggestions and changes to help Arte for the better. It was a great change from my first week, where I had yet to make a home in this space. At the conclusion of this month of service and museum experience, I have grown more confident in my abilities to delegate task...

National Museum of Mexican Art, Week 4 It is over! I can’t believe it’s over that fast. This last week went by in the blink of an eye. I will just add that the transportation was very peaceful this time, haha. This week I continued to enjoy every moment and memory. From walking next to the Willis Tower and pigeons munching in the morning, to the heartwarming smiles and cries of the students I will miss forever.   For most of the week I worked with the students to finalize their projects. I helped them rehearse their stories and touch up/finish their artwork. On Thursday (presentation day), while the students rehearsed their dance, the other interns and I organized their artwork in the gallery so that their parents and family could see it. I also got to help Miss Ashley straighten a girl’s hair for the show!… Let’s just say I was still working on the last strand of hair while Miss Ashley was done with 3 girls.  Finally, the show started at 2pm and the pare...

Familia:  Last week was bittersweet. While I’m incredibly happy to be back home, in my bed (from where I’m currently writing this), it always stings a little to leave the island.  This week was a fun one, work wise. I got to shadow employees in the administration and registry departments, something I had yet to do. With the administration employee, Gelenia, I got to understand more about the behind-the-scenes of museum activity. She taught me about the employee time sheets, different financial forms that have to be filled out, and how to compose the monthly reports. Monday, Tuesday, and part of Friday were spent working in this area.  Wednesday, as per the previous three, I staffed the creative writing workshop for seniors. This was, of course, my last, but the workshop will run for another month. I once again got to observe these people’s passion for writing and how that translates into the class. They all loved working and learning, as well as sharing their pi...