What is LINK?LINK stands for Leading Internships for New Knowledge. Basically, it is a three-week internship that juniors complete every year. It is a way for students to start making connections with the local Durango community and to start to understand how it is to work at a real business to get them ready for life after school ends. When the student is at their LINK internships, their main goal to help the business, but they are also required to complete projects of their own to show that actually did something.
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The Center of Southwest Studies |
CSWS Mission
The Center of Southwest Studies (CSWS) at Fort Lewis College connects individuals and communities with opportunities to explore, study, and experience the Southwest's dynamic heritage. CSWS Vision We envision the Center of Southwest Studies (CSWS) to be a central gateway where people can learn the unique nature of the American Southwest through the understanding of its people and their dynamic relation to the landscape. We envision a sustainable future for our region and see the Center as an active but impartial leader in helping to foster positive solutions to the complex issues that affect us. We envisage a region of informed and spirited citizens who are active stewards of our historic, cultural, and natural resources. To make this goal a reality, the Center features innovative educational programs and research opportunities that promote a greater awareness of the deep connections between people and natural systems. |
Anticipation and Preparation for CSWS |
Describe the steps you took to find an internship
The process of finding my LINK was started with a meeting with Janae about my interests. All juniors met with Janae, as this was the start of the search. After that, I messaged some family and friends that were related to the field I wanted to go into. They told me about different places around the Four Corners that offer what I was looking for. One of the contacts, David Bishop, who I had just met a few weeks prior, set me up with the contacts to some people up at the CSWS. I emailed them an explanation of what I was looking for along with my resume, that David had critiqued. I talked with the CSWS for a week or two before I was invited up to the campus to take a tour. They offered me the internship there and then and then I was set. What challenges did you encounter while looking? I didn't have any real challenges except for getting over my own problems. I don't like reaching out to strangers, so just talking to random people was probably the hardest part. How many people did you contact? I contacted three people. Two from the Center of Southwest studies, and a third person from a company I can no longer remember. It's okay though, because the CSWS liked me. How many times did you hear “no?” Thankfully, I heard "no" from businesses zero times. I really only talked to two people who represented two different companies. I heard back from CSWS, but I never heard from the other place. Explain why you chose this particular opportunity Lets start from the beginning. I wanted to do something with archaeology, because it is a mixture of local history and being outdoors. That was what I originally wanted. While my LINK didn't turn out how I originally wanted it to, it still turned out great. I liked the idea of being at the college, because it was a well respected institute of southwestern/Four Corners area history preservation. What do you hope to gain from the experience? I hope to gain some knowledge about how museums really work behind the scenes and I hope to be of great service to whoever I work with up at the college. What do you hope to bring to the business? I hope to bring a positive attitude and a pair of helping hands to the business. What mark will you leave at your internship? The mark I hope to leave on my internship is a helpful one. I know I keep mentioning the idea of being helpful, but that is what I've been gearing up for; it's my main goal for LINK. |
LINK Project
The main project I completed for the internship was to start and finish three main cases holding books. The cases started with nothing in them and I chose the layout, built the mounts, and completed the cases for the exhibit. I also was instrumental in finishing the Jicarilla Apache basket cases that are in the main gallery. So, you could say that I actually built and completed five cases for the exhibit.
Project Part 2
I made the slideshow below because the director of the museum, Jeanne Brako (mom of AHS alumni Will Brako), asked me to. The book mounts were designed by Jeanne and have been used as models in classes on how to make them for other museums, at national museum conferences. The PowerPoint below was requested to be used to show museums a way how to apply fabric to the book mounts. Apparently it hadn't been done before. It was nice being able to make something that can be used to help educate others around the country. The slideshow will hopefully be shown at a national museum conference in Bernalillo in October.
LINK Reflection for CSWS |
Discuss skills and abilities coming in to LINK that were most useful (with specific example)
I honestly believe that I am good at listening to directions, which came in handy during my internship. It doesn't sound like much, but in this day and age, it seems like most people don't really know how to do much, listening being one of those skills they lack. Being able to go off and do what they asked without repeat made me feel like I knew what I was doing, and I'm sure it made them happy because they didn't need to keep constant tabs on me. For example, working on special book mounts for my display cases provided the opportunity to work on my own with very basic general instructions for what to do. I took those instructions and completed the task throughout a few days, building the book mounts. Discuss most important skills developed during LINK (with specific example) I'm not sure if this is a skill that is being looked for, but working with hands was my big realization over link. It was cool to build something to show the artifacts. It was awesome to work with the artifacts and actually be able to hold and touch them (even if I was wearing gloves). I did work on the computer for some days, but the days when I was working in the gallery or with artifacts were much more enjoyable. On the final day, I worked with some artifacts that had been sitting at the CSWS for a while. There were 3 boxes of 16 millimeter film dated from between 1933 and 1965. While there were some home/family tapes, the majority of them were of the owner, an explorer, and a group of people recording their expeditions around the southwestern United States. The tapes were labeled with different locations or Native American tribes and their dances, or flowers and birds. I sadly didn't get to see them as we had no way to watch them, but being able to be one of the first people in decades to go through and see what was in the collection was awesome. It was made all that much better because I knew where most of the locations were locally. Share how you grew through shortcomings or challenges encountered during LINK There weren't many challenges throughout my internship because everything was pretty laid out for us to complete what we needed to. The only problems I can think of are if the main gallery director wasn't in that day and we couldn't complete gallery work because she was needed to make decisions on what we did, and running out of materials. The materials one was easy to solve because they reuse almost everything up at the CSWS because they don't get enough funding to buy new materials. We just used everything to the best of our abilities. While it may not seem like there is much to do at a museum, you are mistaken. When the gallery director wasn't in for the day, I would work in the database on the computer. Different database tasks I would complete would be updating the exhibit artifact list, so moving items into the main list, writing artist's bios, researching art styles and books, and everything in between. There was always something to accomplish. At the same time, the CSWS wasn't only centered on the exhibit. People would still come in and donate items and we still had to take care of other artifacts that weren't in the exhibit. For example, there was a doll exhibit in the library in the CSWS and I and another intern took the doll display down, marked them down on paper, updated their numbers, made sure they had the right location, and bagged them for storage. There was always something to do. Argue for your importance within the organization and make a case for the mentor to accept high school interns in the future The Center of Southwest Studies is always looking for help. There are always projects to be done and the people are always grateful for the help. I wasn't the only intern at the time. There was another college intern working with me, but while I was there, it felt like I was doing most of the work. I managed to stay busy most of the time and it seemed like I was doing most of the work. It was annoying, but I managed to keep myself busy enough to not think about it much. My mentors always said how quick we interns completed everything and what a help we were. I am also not the first intern from AHS; Kate Hallin interned at the CSWS last summer and they loved her as well. This goes to show that Animas students have had a good relationship with the Center of Southwest Studies and they would gladly accept more high school interns in the future. Describe how the internship experience has helped you plan for next steps for college and/or career readiness In recent months, I've been looking for a job or something to keep me busy throughout the summer - preferably while being paid. Working up at the college for three weeks felt like a vacation is the fact that it wasn't school. I liked it so much more than school. The process of reaching out to complete strangers was scary for me, but once I started asking people I got more confidence. I took a job helping some people do lawn work for a Saturday and I am going to be working this summer on a ranch, helping the owners clean up so they can sell their property. That is what I have planned for the foreseeable future. |
What I Did Each Day
Day 1 - May 1st
Arrived a few minutes before 9 Sat down with Liz and talked about the day Met Nik and Julie Read about how to take care of artifacts and how to properly manage collections Looked through the data base Lunch Read about how to pick and choose what a museum collects Continued with the database understanding Jeanne showed up and we helped her unload some pots and baskets from the Wheelwright museum Talked with people Wrapped up the boxes that Jeanne brought to put in the freezer Explored the gallery Went home at 4:30 Day 3 - May 3rd Arrived at 9 Got to work right away on finishing the Sand painting writeup, spent time in gallery to look at the sand paintings we have hanging Jeanne showed up and we got started working on mannequin work, picked a few from the basement, and brought them up to the gallery to work on with the cape Did random gallery work Lunch Moved cases around, rearranged the back hallway Got books out to put in display cases - beginning of my project? Sat at Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s desk Left at 4:30 Day 5 - May 8th Arrived at 9 Updated to do list Built a second mount for the books in the cases Took the Jicarrilla Apache baskets out of the freezer Redid the fabric on the inserts in the cases, took the old fabric off and put new fabric on Lunch Continued on redoing the fabric for the inserts Built the last of the book mounts for the cases Cut fabric to cover the book mounts Pulled out different statues to put in the gallery from storage and the library Raelynn and I went around and made sure all the artwork in the gallery was on the list to make sure that we knew what was in the exhibit, we wrote down the ones that weren’t on the list Left at 4:30 Day 7 - May 10th Arrived at 9 Finished checking the dolls with other lists, it got confusing due to human errors in writing numbers down Put the real numbers on the dolls - they were then ready to go to storage Labeled and wrote down information for new acquisitions Lunch Continued working with the database and the new artifacts Took pictures of the artifacts, bagged them, made them ready for storage Took Jicarilla Apache baskets to gallery to set them up in cases Took roll of the art in the gallery (with all the previously unlisted art now listed) Updated the database exhibit list Left at 4:30 Day 9 - May 15th Arrived at 9 Met Jack, the guy who builds stuff for the museum every so often Worked on gluing some last minute stuff for the book cases Put book cases together Hung the large textiles Lunch - all went to Machos Put lids on cases Hung another Textile Worked on third book case Left at 4:30 Day 11 - May 17th Finished putting books in database Worked on case base replacement for the new case going in the Nighthorse exhibit Lunch Put fabric on coroplast for the new case Left at 4:30 |
Day 2 - May 2nd
Arrived at 9 Got to work writing artists Bios for the exhibit: D.Y. Begay, Wallace Ben, and Joe Ben Jr. Couldn’t find anything for Bernadina Charley or Robert Weaver Jeanne showed up, continued working Walked through gallery and tried out different designs that would look best for the exhibit Discussed potential project ideas - could be put in charge of the displays in the center console Lunch with Jeanne and Liz @ Machos Worked with Christian to unbox Jicarilla Apache baskets from Santa Fe and put them in sealed bags to be frozen Moved large textile from freezer to main gallery Cleaned up the gallery Worked on sand painting write-up Looked at pictures of sand painting and early San Juan electric generation Left at 4:30 Day 4 - May 4th Arrived at 9 Went over list of what the museum had finished before I got involved, then I updated the list on the computer and revamped the list Worked in gallery on books Read about past exhibits Lunch Built the first stand/mount for certain art pieces to rest on in the cases Unravelled the biggest textile in the CSWS collection Worked on to do list mentioned above Left at 4:30 Day 6 - May 9th Arrived at 9 Took dolls out of case in the library, wrote them down - took roll of what we had (looked for numbers and wrote it down) Took dolls off of stands, then started to bag them Finished putting the new fabric on the case floors and put the case floors back in the gallery Lunch Janae came to check on me and I gave her a tour Continued bagging the dolls Took roll of all art in exhibit again Checked different lists with each other to start the doll progression into the database so they can be put away Opened up the Jicarilla Apache baskets Dusted statues in gallery Database reintroduction Left at 4:30 Day 8 - May 11th Arrived at 9 Started gluing the fabric to the book mounts Worked all morning and part of afternoon on book mounts Lunch Took pictures of the process of putting fabric on the book mount to be used for a presentation Took even more Jicarilla Apache baskets out of storage to put in the exhibit, put cases together Left at 4:30 Day 10 - May 16th Arrived at 9 Worked on a slideshow for three hours Watched the physical plant workers in the basement Lunch Did little odds and ends to make some things look nicer Watched physical plant workers in the basement Database work with books - database was being annoying Cleaned up the gallery a bit Left at 4:30 Day 12 - May 18th - Last Day Opened Gallery Updated to-do list Started going through box of old film and writing it down Lunch Continued with the films Finished the last book case Left at 4:30 |