Meet the 2012 Internship Grant Recipients!

Adrian Martinez-Blaser
The Farmers Market at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
Spotsylvania, VA
7/23/2012

It has been three months since I have started working and already I have such a rewarding experience. Like I have been saying, it’s a family affair out there and it’s great. I couldn’t really understand in the beginning what my boss meant when she said we are a family here but now I definitely see it. After the huge storm the whole area suffered I found myself at Walnut Hill Farm helping clean up storm debris with a friend while getting a closer look at how Jeff Adams works. We are always helping each other out whether it’s that last case of watermelon going onto the truck or holding the fort on a windy day. It’s great going to a vendor and picking out my produce when they just put it back and give you the pick of the crop for next to nothing. Exchanging money is nearly impossible for some because they are just so humble. I have realized in the past month have maybe been to the grocery store once and I’m eating like a king. The fruits, vegetable, meats, eggs, and dairy are truly at their best. Picked ripe and eaten ripe truly is the way of real food. Now I can understand the cult following behind farmers markets. I love being a part of the family I have been adopted into and I look forward to the markets down the road. Please stop by at our Saturday and Wednesday markets and ask how you can help our nourishing neighbor program. Something we have started to fund our SNAP/EBT food stamp customers in receiving a bonus for spending their money with us.

Amanda McCullough
Digital Media Management
Beverly Hills, CA
7/10/12

Ten days into July and so many wonderful things have happened. I am about to have a moment here and say that I got to meet two people who I admire a lot in the acting world and those people are Kate Walsh from Private Practice and Sam Trammell from True Blood and let me tell you, they are just as good looking in person. I will never forget that wink Sam Trammell. Never!! I love LA. It adds to the the excitement of my internship, by going out you literally never know who you will see or run into. From Alexander Skarsgard to hearing a performance from Pentatonix who won the ABC Sing Off at Universal City Walk.  It’s just a bonus. A very amazing bonus. Did I mention Sam Trammell winked at me? Okay, now back to the main reason why I am here, my internship.

One of the clients I work for, Ashley Benson got a million followers on twitter and I couldn’t be happier! A million is a big deal in the social media world and her numbers are growing rapidly. July is a new month which means we get to try new initiatives and try new things along with using what we’ve used in the past that we know works. I am getting better and better at Photoshop and memes have kinda-sorta-become my thing. Melody, my boss has continued to show me new tricks and is expanding my thought process to think about a perspective outside of the box. Including the long term of that image or post. It’s cool to learn tricks and PR stuff like that.

Just like I am every day. I love coming into work. I like creating a schedule of posts and content. But, not even that, It’s cool to see how the fans react to a certain image or post. As a fan girl myself, it’s cool to see the other side of things.

Now, let me just get a picture with Peeta from The Hunger Games and George Clooney and I’ll be all set. Until next time.

Isabel Smith
The Smithsonian, National Museum of American History
Washington, DC
8/5/12

My summer at the National Museum of American History has finally come to an end and I can honestly say that it was the most amazing experience of my life. This internship has shown me so much about the museum world and has confirmed that I am heading in the right career path. It has also shown that the museum world is not perfect and that like any other business there are roadblocks that employees must work around.

During this last week the other interns and I worked hard to make progress on the Peters Prints. About halfway through the week we took a break so that a film crew could come in and do some work for a documentary about the Civil War. Interestingly enough some of the Peters Prints were featured in the documentary.

The most amazing part of the week and perhaps the best way to end this internship was a meeting with the Curator of the Musical Instruments, Kenneth Slowik. Dr. Slowik, who also teaches at the University of Maryland has been a Curator at NMAH since the 1980s and also serves as the Conductor of the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra. During our meeting Dr. Slowik showed me several of the keyboard instruments that were in the collection, some of were featured in a concert sponsored by the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society and the Westfield 2012 International Harpsichord Competition and Academy. Dr. Slowik also showed me some of his personal instruments, like a five string cello that Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 was written for. The best part of this meeting was the Stradivarius Cello that Dr. Slowik pulled off display and let me play. That’s right I got to play a Strad!!! This was by far the best moment of my entire summer.

I will forever be thankful for what the people who work in the museum and my supervisor for what they have done for me. Hopefully one day I will be able to come back to the Smithsonian, whether it is next summer as an intern or in several years as an employee.