Guest blog: National Museum of American History

Hola todos! I see that you've all have had exciting internships this summer. Emily has asked that I write a blog post of my internship at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) to 1) show you how great life is going to get for y'all as you go onto to be successful members of your communities and 2) hopefully encourage some of you to apply to the Smithsonian Institution for internships/fellowships in the future. As the Enrichment Events Coordinator at NMAH, I was tasked with building a community of over ninety interns/fellows from all around the United States and the world. Essentially, my position was designed to connect the introvert working in the Lower Level on archival preservation with the extrovert working on the fifth floor in the marketing department. I achieved this by coordinating daytime tours/trips to various attractions throughout Washington DC, making reservations, creating invite emails, and personally leading those groups.  These events took us all over the city  to places like . . .

The Hirshhorn Museum

The Capitol Building

The Library of Congress

The Newseum

The National Museum of Women in the Arts

The National Gallery of Art*

* This shot is a little blurry because that's Van Gogh's original self-portrait and the guard was yelling at me because I have no business being 4 inches away from it.  

In my five weeks at the Smithsonian, I successively carried out and/or assisted with nearly thirty enrichment events. As fun as it was getting to explore Washington DC, this summer included quite a bit of networking. I met with the director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics (which YAP alumni have an exclusive internship slot with - ask Emily or Jazmin Chavez) and the National Council of La Raza's director of STEM Education for employment opportunities. I connected with a Baylor alum who works as a consultant for the Organization of American States - who actually offered me her job this September (but I couldn't take it because school :/). And, of course, I met up with YAP Familia Jasmin Chavez, Daniel Campos, and Kiani Lozada for some great conversation and food.

Jasmin and I at the Folklife Festival

Also, Ethiopian food in Georgetown with fellow YAP alum Tania Diaz

As much as I love Texas, being here in DC was a great opportunity for me to make connections that will help me in my professional development and to grow as a person. Now that I am finished with my internship and about to head into my last semester of undergraduate, I want to remind y'all that while grades are important, make sure to be involved in organizations, communities, and activities that you are both passionate about and can open up opportunities for the future. The experience and skills that you develop through these involvements are way more important to employers than whether you got a B instead of an A in a class (still not an excuse to slack off though!). For those of you that have a clear idea of what career you wish to pursue, I say do all that you can to get closer and closer to the vision that you have for yourselves.

To the rest that have no idea or aren't sure, don't fret - neither do I and I'm doing just fine.