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Another post by one of our fabulous interns!
By Rachel Lemon, News Editorial and Public Relations Intern
[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"40289","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"250","height":"236","title":"Interning at The Children","alt":"Interning at The Children"}}]]Growing up I came to The Children’s Museum in Indianapolis a few times with my family. It was always magical to explore the exhibits; it felt like I was transported back in time walking through some of the exhibits. I came back my sophomore year of college with my family and my little cousins loved it. As an adult I realized it wasn't just filled with experiences for children; I still saw the magic of The Children’s Museum.
I am a news editorial and public relations major at Franklin College, and I needed to get an internship for credit. I thought what better place than The Children’s Museum. They have many areas of study for people to intern in; one of them happened to be public relations.
Interning here has been an amazing experience. I have the opportunity to see firsthand how the practice of public relations is incorporated into a non-profit organization. There is a lot of planning and behind the scenes work that public relations has to do in promoting The Children’s Museum.
I’m using a lot of my knowledge and education from classes and reading assignments, while interning here. It’s one thing to read and use what you’ve learned in class assignments, but it’s a different learning experience entirely putting your knowledge to use in the work environment. There is the opportunity not only to get experience in a specific area of study, but also the opportunity to acquire more professional development skills. Interns get to meet, talk, and eat with the CEO and President of the museum in order to expand professional development. I’ve worked in many places, and I don’t think I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet anyone higher than a supervisor let alone have a conversation with them.
Along with getting experience, interns have the opportunity to explore and get more of a behind the scenes look at the museum. At one of the orientations interns are required to attend, I learned about the history of The Children’s Museum. At the same orientation I got a tour of collections, which is where all of the artifacts are stored when they are not on loan or display. The tour of collections was amazing to see; I’ve come to the museum a few times and had no idea of all the amazing items that are stored in collections. I honestly didn’t even though there was a collections area.
I am truly enjoying my time interning here, which is going by so fast. One of the best parts about interning here is you get to see the exhibits, not to mention a free membership for a year to come back and explore exhibits.
