Good day everyone, today will be the end of the formal part of my year-long internship under Sarah Boye at Greenwood Cemetery. While I plan to help finish the project until its publishing this June, the majority of my work is finished.
Over the course of the semester, my job was to research and write six essays on the following topics; The Grand Army of the Republic (the premier veteran’s organization for Union soldiers of the Civil War), Samuel Robinson(one of the early settlers of what would become the great city of Orlando), the Wooden Headboards fire of Greenwood Cemetery (two major fires that defined the growth of the Orlando and its shift toward modernization), Babylands, 2 LT Marion Philips (a nurse that served with distinction in the second world war), and Gustavus Henderson. There were quite a few challenges along the way, the prominent being a lack of information for some pieces. For example, it was difficult to find reliable sources for the paper on Orlando's early fires and the destruction of Greenwood's wooden headboards, which Sarah and I overcame through extensive research.
Another issue has been making the papers digestible for a general audience. I have covered some morbid topics such as July Perry's murder and the somber nature of babylands, and it was difficult at first to balance historical factuality and not giving the paper a dour mood. This hardship was more difficult to overcome, but it became easier when Sarah and I would discuss the parameters for what we wanted the paper to say and layout the design together.
This past year has seen my skills as a writer evolve. Between the creative writing class I took this semester and the experience I've gained the year writing short history essays, I believe my writing style has become more smooth, informative, and enjoyable to read. My time management skills have also improved; it was difficult this semester to balance a full course load, this internship, rotc and a part-time job but I believe I have forged myself stronger on the anvil of hardship and I am better prepared for any challenges that I may encounter in the future. Next year, I hope to continue better myself and my skills through more internships or perhaps a job in the history field as a academic researcher.
My overall takeaway from my experience as an intern is that there's something in history for everyone. It is so expansive, complex, and fragmented that I believe everyone can find a topic they enjoy and fall in love with it. To future interns, I would say only one thing; don't be afraid to ask for help, if you don't understand something, it is much better to find out now when there's people around to support you. Every mistake is a learning opportunity and I have and will continue to be incredibly grateful for the chance to work with Sarah and better a better historian.
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