Liberal Arts Major(s): English
Other Major: Physics
Hometown: State College, Pennsylvania
Experience Time: Spring 2021
Give us a brief summary of your experience?
I searched for and accessioned documents for the Hemingway Letters Project, a multi-institutional effort to publish Ernest Hemingway's letters. My internship duties also included compiling resources to produce a detailed log of Hemingway's life, attending project meetings, and lightly proofreading documents; highlights included locating a forged letter, learning delightful fun facts about Hemingway and his four wives, and finding an auction listing for a very expensive fishing cap.
How did this experience impact you academically?
The work I did for the project was detail-intensive, requiring acute attention to clues in documents and instructions. The onus was on me to get each detail right, every time; this project developed a rigorous, analytical approach and special kind of attention which I look forward to using on future English projects, essays, and research.
The internship gave me a small glimpse of the work that goes into the collecting, editing, and publishing of a large-scale academic text.
How will this experience impact your career goals?
The internship gave me a small glimpse of the work that goes into the collecting, editing, and publishing of a large-scale academic text. I was drawn to the project because I was curious about the process (and Hemingway, of course); I learned a tremendous amount about the versatile, detail-oriented systems required to publish a new volume of letters, an interesting set of skills which will hopefully be useful if I ever publish a peer-reviewed, academic text.
How has the College of the Liberal Arts helped you to find and/or succeed in this experience (e.g., adviser, faculty, staff, enrichment funds, etc.)?
I found a flier for the internship while wandering around Burrowes as a freshman (when wandering in person was still something one could do) -- I immediately reached out to the contact in the English department, who was incredibly kind and helpful. I also received help from the department's internship coordinator, who read a number of resume drafts (some quite messy) and pointed me in the right direction. I was also awarded enrichment funds which partially offset the cost of academic credits for the internship and reallocation of time.