September 14, 2010 (Jupiter, FL) – The summer of 2010 offered Megan Hesse, a senior at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, the opportunity to participate in a summer internship at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science, a resource that defines its mission as to “provide experiential pathways to lifelong learning in science for children and adults through exhibits, programs and films.”  What makes Megan’s experience unusual is that she wasn’t the museum’s typical intern with a major in biology, chemistry, or physics.  What brought Megan to the Museum of Science and Discovery was her academic concentration in English Literature.
            “The museum offered me an incredible opportunity to write, see how the museum operates behind the scenes, learn about using my degree in the real world, and perform duties in the marketing department.” As for so many students in the Wilkes Honors College, finding opportunities is all about seeing the connections that others might overlook.  In Megan’s case, word of the museum internship reached her through another job. She had been working at a summer camp, taking the children to the same museum for field trips.  That’s when the connection between her interests and the museum’s needs first struck her.  Here was a chance to help them both.
            Megan said that the application process was very simple. “I emailed the volunteer department head, whose address is on the museum’s website and asked about internships for my specific concentration. After that, she directed me to the head of marketing who was very enthusiastic about taking on an intern.”  Megan’s initiative soon paid off. She gained real world experience and learned more about career opportunities for students with degrees in the humanities.
            When asked how FAU’s Honors College has helped her, Megan said, “The Honors College challenged me" and helps in "preparation for graduate school. The best part has been finding students of the same caliber as well as being taught by some amazing professors.”
            Hilary Edwards, Assistant Professor of English at the Wilkes Honors College added, “Megan is a great creative and academic writer, but her internship experience gave her the chance to put these talents to use in a very practical way:  communicating ideas that matter to real people in the context of the real world.  The opportunity to test academic skills in the non-academic world allows students both to hone those skills and to supplement them with new ones they would never get to use in a classroom — that’s what makes the internship experience such a crucial part of the Honors College experience.   The effusive reports from Megan’s supervisors at the museum show that she didn’t just learn from them, she was a tremendous help to this institution, and that’s the other great part of the internship program:  it helps our students and our larger community learn from and help each other.”  Connecting academic programs with the community is one of the values that Florida Atlantic University takes pride in and, as Megan’s experience makes clear, those connections frequently provide abundant rewards.

byline: WHC Student Intern Tamara Howard