september 23rd-25th

A few more journal entries since I can't really think of what to write about after writing all day, catching up on my homework... they span the last week or so, so a few might overlap with what I've already written about... hope you find them at least a little interesting :) 

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Another element of the city that I find so interesting is just the “Go-go-go” mentality. I knew that there was the stereotype of that coming here, but to experience it brings it to a whole new level. I often wonder why everyone is in such a rush but then I realized that I’ve been getting caught up in it as well.  I walk faster, I run down the stairs, I rush through meals, and I rarely find myself just relaxing like I do back home. 

I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, but just interesting. It’s such a different environment. I assume that public transportation has something to do with it – trying to make sure you don’t miss the train or bus since you don’t always know when the next one will come by. Overall it creates an entirely different schedule, a lot of “hurry up and wait” moments too. And then when the day is done and I finally make it back to my apartment I feel like I have to keep moving so I run errands, clean, do laundry, eventually get to my homework and barely sit still until after I’ve gotten everything ready for the next morning and am about to go to sleep. 

It will be interesting to see if this is a pattern that continues throughout the semester or if it dies out once I know the schedule that will get me to work on time and basically get into a routine. I’m not sure which I’d prefer – I kind of enjoy always being busy and just the general hustle and bustle of everyone passing by on the street, but at the same time I find that I don’t take the opportunities I have to appreciate the sights, sounds, and people of the city.

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Working at the museum is an entirely new experience. I’ve had internships before, but they were so relaxed and casual – I’d find out the night before what time I needed to be in the office, and even then I was usually the first one there (by at least 45 minutes). So to be in a formal work environment where we have to wear business dress clothes and have a standard 8:30am to 4:30pm schedule it quite interesting. 

I’ve really enjoyed working at the museum so far, I’ve only actually gone the museum a couple of days, but I learn so much each time I’m there – my inner nerd is very excited about everything I get to experience and learn this semester. I’m fascinated by the exhibits – so far I’ve gotten to go exploring every day and it has been so interesting to learn about Pirates, dinosaurs, and everything else has to offer (On a side note, one fun fact about working at the museum that I learned today is that it is one of Vince Vaughn’s favorite places in the city. I found out from one of my supervisors that while I was exploring the Pirates exhibition last Friday, she was also there giving a tour to Vince Vaughn. She also told me the next time there is a big tour, she’ll see what she can do to let me go along). But something that’s just as interesting is the dynamics throughout the museum staff. 

In the exhibitions department there are a lot of different personalities and styles of thinking/communicating. And I’m slowly learning that it is part of the Project Manager’s job to observe these different personalities among team members in order to guide the group in the most productive direction for working together and communicating effectively. It’s interesting to learn about the role of Project Managers within the Exhibitions department just because they dabble in everything – as my advisor put it, “jack of all trades – master of none” because they work on both sides of the museum. They interact with the teams that put the exhibits together but also match everything up with the people who are on the public side of the museum. 

It bothers me a little bit that I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing as an intern in this department, but I’m slowly learning. Both of my advisors are very helpful and welcoming of questions…we’re just working on figuring out exactly what I will be doing this semester. They have such a broad range of work that it’s hard for them to say exactly what projects I can be involved in or what can be specifically my responsibility. But there have been hints that I will be given a big collection of projects once this week gets going so I will just have to be patient and know that they are as excited to have me as I am to be there. 

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With a few more days of my internship under my belt, I think I’m starting to feel quite a bit more comfortable at the museum. I still feel like I could get lost at any turn, but now I at least know how to get to the elevator so I don’t have to climb 5 flights of stairs at least three times a day. I’ve started receiving tasks that take a bit more time to complete so I have been able to get to work as soon as I get there instead of waiting to meet with a supervisor to find out what I’m doing for the day, which is nice. It leaves less time for exploring, but so far I’ve enjoyed the projects I’ve been working on. 

One thing about the internship that I’ve really enjoyed so far have been being able to experience such a variety of tasks and see many areas of the museum. On Thursday last week I was able to see what kind of things are done at the very beginning stages of planning a new exhibition. They are planning a new permanent exhibition for the museum about nature and conservation so we went on a fieldtrip with the majority of the people on that team to the woods along with three other places near by that focus on “living green” and the education of conservation. 

It was amazing to be able to spend the whole day outside in nature – and not that far away from the city! It was also interesting to see how all the people from the different departments took advantage of the trip: those from the design/modeling department focused a lot on the scenery, textures and colors (including collecting leaves and flowers) where as those who are in development were constantly asking questions of those who worked at each location about everything from costs to what kind of plants we were looking at to how different age groups interact with their sites. The only thing I didn’t enjoy about this day was the fact that the traffic coming back from the Skokie area was absolutely terrible so once I finally got back to Clark and Division, I had to sprint five or six blocks to make it to the bus that was taking everyone to the Art Event that night (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom).

Another thing that I’m pretty excited about with my internship is the amount I get to be involved in the new Gems and Diamonds exhibitions that are opening in October. I didn’t realize at first how involved they are letting me be, but right now I’m learning all of the information that is in all of the displays. They want me to know this information inside and out because next week I will be working with one of my supervisors to write the script that the docents will be using when they have introductions to larger tour groups. Also, I will also be working in the Diamonds exhibition before it opens, so I will get to see a lot of behind-the-scenes work.  

At first, I was excited about working at the  museum just because it is a reputable place to have an internship with a lot of perks and seem like a good fit in terms of supervisors and environment. Now, with seeing more each day, I’m starting to see working in a museum – history, science, art, or others – as a possible career path.