Sophia graduated from University of Tampa in the spring of 2013. She worked at SITE in the Education Department as an intern during the summer of 2013. Here are her final reflections about her experience at SITE upon completing her internship.

I had a wonderful time being an education intern this summer at SITE Santa Fe. I worked on a many different and varied projects. I was delighted that I was able to gain some insight into the different tasks that occurred around me. The first couple of weeks into the internship I learned through trial and error how to work the front desk and the copy machine. Yet this was not all that I had accomplished during my internship at SITE. My time as an intern was spent cataloguing the library, preparing for the Juvenile Detention Center and performing duties as a SITE Guide.

The largest task set before me was to catalogue the Library at SITE. Accompanied by the other education intern, Ylin, we tackled our task with a sense of determination. Never having catalogued an entire library we were intrigued by the process. With the trial and error of a previous program we settled on using LibraryThing. Once this decision had been made the task of cataloging and re-shelving went smoothly. Once we had finished the main Library we moved on to Irene’s library.

While waiting for my background check to be cleared at the Juvenile Detention center, I enjoyed preparing the supplies they needed to do their projects. The first was the collage project based on the video of artist Marco Brambilla. Then it was the dioramas for Enrique Celaya’s exhibition. For this project I was able to finally go to the detention center and work with the kids. I found this activity to be gratifying and would love to continue working with them. I was only able to go to the detention center a couple of times. The last two projects I worked on with them was the creation of hot air balloons and the drawings of birds.

My last big activity I did this summer was being a SITE Guide. I found this job to be stimulating and a change of pace from the usual intern duties. It was rewarding enough watching Brambilla and Celaya talk with us about their work. Yet answering the many varied questions from visitors made my day. They were a welcome respite from silent guarding of the artwork. During this time as a guide I was able to make friendships with the other guides.

There were a great many other activities that I was a part of during my summer at SITE. I am grateful that I was able to be a part of the Gala/Auction. Then writing the thank-you notes for the varied field trips we were able to take. I also was able to write two blog posts about the trip to the Santa Fe Opera and the studio visit with Larry Fodor. I found time to send out a call for interns to a list of colleges that I had compiled. Finally I was able to pass on my knowledge about LibraryThing and the creation of a ‘zine to the new interns. All in all, I found my time at SITE to be educational and rewarding.

Thank you, Joanne and Amanda, for allowing me to be an intern this summer; I sincerely appreciate it.