Over two different summers during my undergrad career, I
interned at the National Archives and Records Administration in DC and worked
at an archaeological dig site in Tuscany, Italy. It was from these experiences,
and reading History Wars from the
historiography class, that I landed on wanting to work in museums.
In between being an RA, a typical senior and writing my
senior thesis, I plowed through graduate school applications. Paying through
the nose to take the GRE (TWICE!), and let’s not forget how expensive
application fees are, I mentally prepared myself for two more years of school.
It all paid off, though. As February rolled along, so did
the graduate school acceptance letters. My despair soon changed from, “What am
I going to do with my life?” to “Where am I going to go to school?” Poor Dr. H.
witnessed all of my distress but ultimately gave me the best advice: go where
your heart is. Great advice when I was deciding between Arizona State
University, Baylor University, and Syracuse University; completely different
areas of the country, while my boyfriend (now fiancé) was staying at Bonas for
the IMC program.
Everything worked out swimmingly, and my decisions seamlessly
fell into place. Syracuse University offered me a TA position, which made my decision
to attend SU a no brainer. Graduate
school for free? I think, yes! Come the fall of 2011, I was enrolled in the
graduate program of museum studies at Syracuse University and teaching the
undergraduate course History of Design.
